“Shadow/land,” which recently played at the Public Theatre, was a moving, poignant piece of theater that looked at the impact of Hurricane Katrina on the people of New Orleans. The playwright, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, gives us the story of a family who owned a club called the “Shadow/land,” built on the land that one of the ancestors in the family secured through her blood and sweat. The land and the business had been passed down generation after generation.
We meet Ruth and her mother Magalee. Ruth wants to sell the club, but her mother is completely against it, and she tells her the history of this land and this bar in their family. Magalee is passionate about wanting Ruth to keep the legacy going. This discussion happens on the eve of Hurricane Katrina.
There is a lot going on in this powerful play. Besides trying to get her daughter to hold onto the family’s property and business, Magalee also tries to get her to appreciate the husband and family she has and not look for happiness with another man. Ruth tries to explain that her life has been unhappy because she lives for everyone else but herself. She tries to bare her soul to her mom and get her to understand what she needs to feel more fulfilled. But no matter what she shared, her mother kept trying to emphasize that the family and their history are what truly matter in life.
While these two characters were having their heart to heart, a character called the Grand Marshal came onstage; she represented the element of the ancestors, and that candid element of truth— why people come to New Orleans. They come to be entertained, but they don’t care about the people who live there or the traumas that those residents have gone through.
As Katrina raged, Ruth and Magalee were trapped in the family club. They were there as the floodwaters came in and saw, firsthand, neighbors dying. They saw that society did not care about them when they desperately asked for assistance and those calls went unanswered—no assistance for a woman and her 80-year-old mother suffering from dementia.
While Magalee is a light-skinned woman, Ruth is brown-skinned. She has always been jealous of her sister Eva who, like their mother, had a lighter complexion, and has always felt mistreated by white people she has encountered for having darker skin. When Ruth shared this with her mother, Magalee responded that she not only knew this, but tried to compensate for the mistreatment Ruth received by giving her gifts to make up for this feeling of rejection she knew her daughter had suffered.
The issue of complexion in the African American community is quite real, and a play that includes that is quite on-point. I loved how the playwright made this production about the Black women in this family—their sacrifices, their strengths, and their struggles. She let it be known that legacy is imperative to uphold because so much has been sacrificed for us to have what we have.
This play was beautiful, touching, and stunning to witness. The direction by Candis C. Jones was tremendous. The actresses on that stage had you mesmerized.
Lizan Mitchell as Magalee brought a feistiness, an incredible energy, and a joy to this motherly role. She delivered her character with a great respect for the ancestors.
Joniece Abbott-Pratt was phenomenal as Ruth. You could feel the pain and frustration that her character felt on so many levels. You also appreciated the transformation that she undertook as their situation got worse and worse.
Christine Shepard was mesmerizing as the Grand Marshal. She gave the show a flavor of ancestry, strength, truth, joy, and beauty.
I love that the Public Theatre always strives to produce significant works that inspire the soul and make you reflect on what is important in life. New Orleans is not just a place to go and party; people live there. And Black women are the backbone of the Black family. They are always ready to make whatever sacrifices are necessary to assist their families in surviving and thriving.