Chicago’s South Side, in the 1930s, was where all the black
residents lived. Their legal segregation prevented opportunities afforded white
citizens, opportunities in education, employment, housing, health care, police
protection—what we now understand to be basic human rights. Chicago’s South
Side, today, is where many black residents live. Their schools have been
shuttered, their citizens tasered and shot by police, their parks and libraries
underfunded, their housing often haphazardly managed.
The problems are of course more nuanced than 80 years ago.
Progress has surely been made since the Jim Crow era. But similarities exist.
Court Theatre’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son, premiering tonight and running through Oct. 12, brings
Bigger Thomas to the stage. The theater, set just north of Bigger’s fictional rattrap
apartment, is the domain of the University of Chicago, a mixed neighborhood of
professors and students, blacks and whites and Asians, rich and poor. But roam
beyond the perimeters of the modern integrated neighborhood and things begin to
turn more pre-Civil Rights eraish.
“All of the issues and pressures that Wright wrote about are
still very relevant and prevalent in our society,” says playwright Nambi E.
Kelley. “My adaptation focuses on how Bigger is impacted from the inside out,
about these pressures and how those ills inform the picture he sees of himself
in his own mind.”
Court Theatre, in recent years, has fought to make itself
into a center for diverse, classic theater, with an emphasis on literary
masterpieces. Court’s winter 2012 production of Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man was a huge success,
garnering praise and enthusiasm throughout the community.
So when American Blues Theater approached Court to propose a
partnership, there was no hesitation. “It was the perfect coming together of
everything,” says Court marketing director Kate Vangeloff.
Nambi began the process of adapting the novel in the fall of
2012, completing a 450-page draft that she eventually whittled down to 85. She
agonized over the sprawling story’s essential elements, and how to remain true
to her artistic voice while maintaining the integrity of Wright’s original
vision.
“It has been my favorite novel from a very young age,”
says Nambi. “Wright writes great
dialogue. His dialogue translates very easily to the stage because it has
high stakes, is direct, and is full of character. What was challenging to
translate was the long stretches in the novel where Bigger is in conversation
with himself about his choices. I hope I've found a way to illuminate his
internal struggles that is theatrical, engaging, and true to the original
work.”
In the novel Native
Son, why Bigger did what he did is as important as what he did. The novel’s
examination of Bigger’s character makeup, and how the white dominated social
structure informed it, posed important questions at a time when such questions
were rarely spoken aloud.
Nambi’s narration, likewise, focuses on Bigger’s
psychological underpinnings, but with much more emphasis on the novel’s first
two acts rather than the final act that largely takes place in a courtroom. The
play runs about an hour and a half, a remarkable distillation of a story of
such enormity.
At a recent discussion at the Arts Club of Chicago, Nambi
discussed growing up near the Ida B. Wells
 |
| Professor Kenneth Warren and playwright Nambi E. Kelly discuss the adaption at the Arts Club of Chicago. |
Kenneth Warren
joined Nambi for that Arts Club discussion. Ken, a literary historian who has
taught at the University of Chicago these past 23 years, warned that
readers process text differently at the time of publication than in later
years. He also noted that civic rights reform was then inextricably linked to the Socialist movement. But he agreed that much of Wright’s story remains current.
Wright was inducted
into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 2010.
Advance ticket sales
for the run have been brisk, but some still remain. Groups of 10+ enjoy 30
percent off tickets, waived handling fees, free parking, and discounts
at local restaurants. Contact groups@courttheatre.org or call (773) 834-3243 to
make a reservation.
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