By SHARON EBERSON
The new play Art of Wise opens with a heart-stopping scenario, then turns back the clock for a lyrical, gripping buildup to a fateful faceoff, during an enslaved man’s desperate flight for freedom.
a new play by Mark Clayton Southers for Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company. (Image: J.L. Martello / 18ricco)
The “art” of Art of Wise, at its most straightforward, represents the pretty paintings of flowers that bedeck the house of the Wise cotton plantation, in 1822 Alabama.
Art, however, is never that simple.
For Amahle Wise and her family, there is hope in every brushstroke, as a means of escapism and, perhaps, a means of escape.
With the world-premiere play, playwright Mark Clayton Southers stares into the depths of white privilege and the degradation of slavery, without ever losing sight of the power of art and a loving family to keep hope alive. The Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company production, which opened April 11, 2025, at Madison Arts Center, contains vivid violence, along with touches of humor and expressions of joy, in a world where both are thought to be in short supply.
The latest entry in Southers’ exploration of the Black American experience in the 19th century takes plays at a time when there were 24 United States, and the Civil War was 40 years in the future. In the USA of 1822, enslaved people could be given the surname of their “owners,” so this is the tale of two Wise families and their teenage daughters.
The two girls couldn’t be more different, in attitude and in circumstance. Adjoa Opoku-Dakwa portrays Amahle, enslaved to Jonathan and Sarah Wise (Joseph McGranaghan and Jenny Malarkey) and their disgruntled daughter, Samantha (Maddie Kocur).
It is soon obvious that the paintings of flowers that surround their well-appointed home are not by Samantha, but by Amahle (a Zulu name meaning “beautiful” or “beautiful one”).
While Samantha claims no imagination, Amahle’s runs wild. When she is painting, she imagines both joy and revenge – twice played out in fanciful ballets that make you wish we could spend more time seeing what’s going on in Amahle’s mind.
The two families are distinguished by the loving home provided by Amahle’s parents and the palpable lack of compassion between the wealthy plantation owners. Their emotional division is demonstrated by their actions, while their circumstances are defined by a stage that is divided unequally – a small, cabin-like section to the left, and an expansive living and dining area to the right, in a typically evocative Tony Ferrieri set.
Sheldon Ingram, a reporter for WTAE-TV News for more than 30 years, continues to impress as an actor, including Chicken & Biscuits for New Horizon Theater. Ingram’s Bendoo Wise, father to Amahle and Albert (Justus Payne), is a dynamic patriarch, who exudes hope as his superpower.
A favorite scene, without giving too much away, is Ingram’s Ben telling his son a story that acts as an admonishment to be careful what you wish for. Ingram is animated throughout, while Payne’s expressions change from youthful defiance to aghast as the point sinks in.
As Bendoo’s wife, Oni, Karla C. Payne is, as always, a strong and admirable presence, displaying infinite patience, although she doesn’t have a lot to do here.
In the other Wise household, Malarkey flits about, hiding her savvy beneath the facade of a flighty Southern belle. She wants more for her daughter than marriage to a casually cruel husband like her own, and sees art as Samantha’s way out. McGranaghan proves once again that his acting chops have a wide reach, from the beleaguered husband of Barefoot in the Park (Pittsburgh Public Theater) to Art of Wise’s villainous Jonathan, a man who is both domineering and dense – his wife tells their daughter she doubts he would understand the meaning of “inwardly.”
In a memorable turn, David Minniefield plays the servile Campie, who acts as Jonathan Wise’s right-hand “house slave” and a go-between when it comes to delivering bad news.
Campie plays a key role among the Wises – those in “the big house,” who stew in their resentments and insecurities, and the enslaved laborers, who privately maintain their African identity, holding out hope that freedom will one day be within reach.
Director Monteze Freeland, Southers’ longtime collaborator, has two directorial openings within a week; the other being the City Theatre co-production of King James – a two-hander vs. Art of Wise, which includes onstage musicians, drummer (Zosha Nowe) and violin players (Em Kohut-Kegarise and Yanna Mavrogeorgis on alternating nights.
With the relatively large cast, Freeland shows a deft hand at movement as well as a moving story that leads down one path, then heads off in an unexpected direction. Keep in mind when it comes to a Mark Southers play: He knows how to unleash a good twist, and he doesn’t take the easy way out when it comes to tidy endings.
by Joseph McGranaghan, with Karla C. Payne as Oni Wise.
(Image: J.L. Martello / 18ricco)
A calm presence along the way is Opoku-Dakwa’s Amahle, concerned not for the credit that her art might bring her, but for expressing herself through painting a world of pretty flowers, in stark contrast to Kocur’s pouty Samantha.
What Samantha observes at home is a father who is constantly obsessing over everyone, including his workers, taking advantage of him. He also has a gambling problem, and pays his debts in the form of lending out slave labor.
This moving and debut production, at more than two hours with an intermission, looks at the time of slavery in America through fresh and unflinching eyes, and contains performances that create a kinship with characters, as well as the power to shock you out of your preconceptions.
It has become almost cliche to say a theatrical work resonates with today’s headlines. Yet it feels necessary to say that this original work comes at a time when people currently holding the keys to power are trying to whitewash our shameful history, making the overriding message of hope in Art of Wise more urgent than ever.
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh Playwrights THeatre Company’s production of Art of Wise runs April 11 – May 4, 2025, at Madison Arts Center, 3401 Milwaukee Street, Upper Hill District.https://www.pghplaywrights.org/season-info/art-of-wise/
Leave a Reply Cancel reply