A spectacular 'Diamond' in the rough
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Company members mentioned in this article: J Nicole Brooks, David Catlin, Thomas J Cox, Kevin Douglas, Brian Sidney Bembridge, Alison Siple and Andre Pluess by Hedy Weiss Add a bloodbath fueled by the tension between Christian and Islamic forces, and buoyed by post-colonial greed, opportunism, power plays and endemic corruption. Finally, mix in a textbook-worth of psychic splits, all the outgrowth of the African diaspora. These are the essential raw materials for J. Nicole Brooks' phantasmagoric and altogether dazzling first play, "Black Diamond: The Years the Locusts Have Eaten," now in its world premiere at Lookingglass Theatre. As if the subject matter of Brooks' drama were not daunting enough, she also has infused her quasi-docudrama with everything from outrageous burlesque and ventriloquism to hip-hop theater, musicalized stage combat and other Brechtian tricks, all realized with consummate skill by a virtuosic cast possessed of the most impressive sleight-of-hand. "Black Diamond" is a remarkable, hugely ambitious theatrical debut. And Brooks, who co-directed with David Catlin, could not have dreamed of a more brilliantly realized production. Liberia was founded in the early 19th century when a private society of white Americans set it up as a colony for the free blacks they feared and hoped would return to Africa. Those "returned" Africans never established an ideal relationship with the indigenous people, and a variety of leaders, as well as Firestone rubber investors, ruled the roost for decades. In the 1980s and '90s, a vicious series of civil wars broke out, and armies of child soldiers were formed. Order was not restored until 2003. Inspired by a true story, the play is set in the late 1990s, as enterprising black journalist Chogan Jim Fox (Jason Delane, ideal as the soul-searching "witness") enters the conflict with Irish photographer Tristan Monoghan (Thomas J. Cox is superb). Fox, U.S.-born but BBC-employed, is determined to track down Black Diamond (Alana Arenas, an actress of breathtaking emotional depth, capable of the most surprising shifts of mood and intensity) and discover what makes her tick. Diamond is a legendary colonel whose gang of women warriors (played with rip-roaring style by Tamberla Perry, Nancy Moricette, Ericka Ratcliff and Penelope Walker) strikes fear into the hearts of its opponents. Fox's journey comes complete with hallucinatory, nightmarish interludes -- often wildly comic and culturally challenging. Leading these bizarre, satirical minstrel shows is the American Dummy (played by Kevin Douglas), who comes close to stealing the show. Faster than the speed of light in his verbal and physical acrobatics, he is electrifying -- true star material. But every performer here, including the unusually charismatic Adeoye, Victor Cole and Freeman Coffey, excels. Sibyl Wickersheimer's concrete-walled, sandbagged, blue plastic tarpaulin-draped set is perfect, as is Brian Sidney Bembridge's feverish lighting, Alison Siple's costuming and Andre Pluess and Kevin O'Donnell's Afro-pop scoring. This is truly a multifaceted, brilliantly reflective "Diamond. |
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