FEBRUARY 11, 1994 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 15

ENTERTAINMENT

Black History plays mirror gay community's issues

Miss Evers' Boys

Ensemble Theatre at the Civic through February 20

For the Love of the Game Jelliffe Theatre at Karamu House through February 27

Reviewed by Barry Daniels Among the many events scheduled for Black History month in Cleveland are two excellent productions of plays that examine aspects of the black experience in American society. At the Ensemble Theatre, Miss Evers' Boys by David Feldshuḥ finds a human drama in the facts of the Tuskeegee Institute study of untreated syphilis in black men. At the Karamu Performing Arts Theatre a new script by Karamu House Executive Director Margaret Ford-Taylor and Karen Crocheron, For the Love of the Game, uses the history of the Negro Baseball Leagues as a focus for a compelling drama that touches on contemporary issues in the black community.

In Miss Evers' Boys Feldshuh creates an emotionally powerful drama about the ethical issues involved in using human guinea pigs for medical research that is framed in the context of the history of racism in America. The play focuses on a black nurse, Miss Evers, and four men in her care. It is set at the 1972 Senate investigation of experimentation with humans where she has been called to testify. Her story is told in a series of flashbacks to 1932, when the experiment was begun, and to 1946, when it continued despite the discovery of penicillin.

Miss Evers is a simple, honest, caring woman caught in an ethical dilemma between commitment to the doctors who su-

pervise her and commitment to the welfare of her patients. The somewhat inept white physician, who initiated the study, argues that it will parallel a similar study of white males, carried out in Scandinavia, and will prove that there is no difference between the races. Jeff Gruszewski nicely plays Dr. Douglas' inability to view his patients as human beings and his condescending attitude towards blacks. He is clearly out to make a name for himself through this research. Dr. Eugene Brodus, the black administrative head of the Tuskeegee Hospital, is torn between his human values as a doctor and the belief that if he doesn't cooperate with Douglas, the government will reduce his hospital's funding. J. Harding Moore is an impressive Brodus: we see his pride as well as his repressed anger at the way he is forced to act to be accepted in a white world.

The four patients are Alabama tenant farmers. Hodman Bryan and Ben Washington, finely acted by Abdullah Bey and Bill McKenzie, are older men who have caved in to white oppression. The younger men, Willie Johnson and Caleb Humphreys are educated and have hopes of better lives. Rodney Chaise Williams, as Willie, dances his dreams for us. Robert Williams is a sly, sexy and engaging Caleb. All four men are broken by the system in different ways. Watching the trajectory of their disillusion is deeply moving.

At the center of the production is Conni Blair's beautifully poised portrayal of Miss Evers. She captures perfectly the character's simplicity, affection for her patients and pride in her profession. It is a role that could easily become saccharine and sentimental. Blair never lets this happen.

ROGER MASTROIANNI

TV anchor Matt Mason (Willie Boyd) explains to ex-ballplayer Jimmy Sweetwater-Lee (Jonathan Booker) why his documentary on the Negro Leagues is not exploitative.

Director Lucia Colombi has shaped the drama with a fine sense of the reality of situation and character. I would have liked a more visually sophisticated set and one that would allow for more artful transitions between the scenes, but this is a minor complaint. Miss Evers' Boys will move you and make you think: it's a compelling evening of theater.

For the Love of the Game is set in a TV studio where the staff is putting together a documentary on the history of the Negro

Baseball Leagues in America. The process of creating the documentary exposes a group of issues and tensions within the AfricanAmerican community today. The completed documentary is shown in six flash forwards that are placed between the scenes of the play. We see both the finished product and the reflection and discussion that went into making it. We see how past and present interact.

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