Prominent African American play opened at the Clarice
Pearl Cleage’s “Flyin’ West” opened Nov. 1 at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
In “Flyin West”, the play follows the story of African American women who have settled into Nicodemus, Kansas, an all-black town. Following the start of the Homestead Act of 1862 and the end of emancipation, the play follows the characters who are trying to make a living for themselves after leaving the racist south.
The play took place on a wooden house set where the audience watched the performance occur in the kitchen of the Dove-Washington home. Wooden chairs and tables, an old-fashioned stove and a record player with vegetable stock bags hanging from the ceiling set the stage.
The play brought to light the struggles many African-Americans faced during the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s. The conflict of the play centers around land ownership. The Homestead Act allowed anyone of any race or gender to own land to support themselves.
Other themes that are represented in the play include are family, community, pride and freedom. The play shows that to be family does not mean you have to be related by blood and uplifting your community allows for the progression and development for everyone.
The cast went through great lengths to make sure they were able to authentically capture those experiences.
“We had to do our history on the playwright and on the history of the play,” said Aliyah Jackson, who played Minnie, the youngest sister in the play. “Coming into the first rehearsal, we had to fully memorize [our lines] and do presentations [on the history of the play],” Jackson said.
The play shows the three main characters, Miss Leah, Sophie, and Fannie, as they get excited for the arrival of their younger sister, Minnie and her husband Frank. In addition to these characters, we meet Wil Parish who helps the women out anytime they need him.
As the characters reconnect after many years, there is tension between the women and Frank because of his racist views, poor treatment of their sister and disregard for the meaning behind land ownership. Frank, however, gets his dessert at the end.
Throughout the play, audience members responded emphatically with laughter, anger and joy as the cast put on a show that the audience not only enjoyed but also discussed at the end of the play.
“I feel these are stories that are passed down, and there's different iterations that we see now. But it's always nice to go back and see the older versions. So you get an actual taste of where these traditional Black stories come from,” said Nana Edu, a front row audience member.
Graduate dance student, Ronya-Lee Anderson, found a deeper meaning of ownership and inheritance interesting.
“I think what really hit me was that this concept of land ownership,” Anderson said. “Owning something, having a piece of something and the significance of that, and being able to pass something down, and the importance of sharing oral history, sharing stories.”
“Flyin’ West”is a story that integrates history and emotions for all viewers.