to see The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963 at Chicago Children's Theatre

On Sunday I went to see the World Premiere of a play called The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis Adapted by Cheryl L. West, Directed by Wardell Julius Clark at the Chicago Children's Theatre, The Station. I went with mama and Margot. When we walked into the theatre it was really big and there were these big couches for us to sit on. The set, designed by Arnel Sancianco, was made up of a broken up/fake car that the actors moved with their feet and underneath the car was a large map that sloped up like a hill on the far wall, they used the sloped part for projections later in the play. There was also a big door for the houses and a couch on wheels.  I thought the set was really clever because it looked really hard to make and it helped tell the story of a road trip between two locations.

The play is based on a novel of the same name by Christopher Paul Curtis. It tells the story of a family named the Watsons who are from Flint, Michigan and their trip to Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The family has five members, Daddy (Bear Bellinger), Mama (Sharriese Hamilton), Byron the oldest son (Stephen "Blu" Allen), Kenny (Jeremiah Ruwé on Sunday's performance) and Joey (Jillian-Giselle). At the beginning, Kenny is hiding under a couch and Byron is getting in trouble all the time. The family decides to take Byron to Birmingham to visit Grandma (Ti Nicole Danridge- on Sunday's performance) and help him be better.

I loved the use of the family car. They listened to records on the road trip thanks to a new record player and the family would sing along. The projections along the far wall helped us see the signs they would see along the way and as they got closer to Alabama the family seemed more scared. They seemed scared in the dark and they would sing songs.

Because the play takes place in 1963 it's important to know that Alabama was a segregated state and Michigan was not. When the family got to Alabama you could tell the family felt less comfortable because they kept seeing signs about segregation and met people who tried to scare them by saying "We don't like trouble-makers"

When they got to Grandma's house, the grandma told them about a boy who went swimming and got sucked up by a whirlpool and Kenny thought she said Wool Pooh and then Byron told a make-believe story about the Wool Pooh and said it was Winnie the Pooh's evil brother.  But Kenny didn't believe him until he was swimming and had a scary experience that brought more fear to his mind. Kenny thought he saw the Wool Pooh. This was a cool moment because they used a really big prop of fabric to represent the water and it made for an interesting stage picture. But you'll have to see the show to find out more.

I should also mention that this play is based around a Historical tragedy, the 16th Street Church bombing of 1963 which killed four innocent little girls and injured 17 more lives. There is a very sad moment in the play when this is mentioned. All of this was a part of the moment when blacks were fighting for rights to be treated like everyone else and it was the worst in the South because of the Ku Klux Klan. I think the Wool Pooh was meant to represent the Ku Klux Klan because they had the same badge and a similar hood/mask.

The actors were all very talented because they had strong voices and used their bodies and the space well. My favorite character was Byron, played by Stephen "Blu" Allen, because he was really funny when he kissed the car mirror and his lips were frozen. My favorite part was when the Dad (Bear Bellinger) said "put your hands out the window" of the car and Joey said "BUT I DON'T HAVE A WINDOW!" because she was in the middle of the back seat.

This play was really powerful because it taught me that the LOVE of a family tree has stronger roots than the Hate tree, as we hold each other up we are stronger together.  Hate has rotted roots with nothing to cling to.

I give this play FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILLION POINTS because it is a REALLY AWESOME PLAY and I think everyone in the whole wide dimension of the Universe should see it.

Love,
Gunnar