Review: You Can Lead A Horse To Water, GVSU, November 2005
Nico on Jan 07 2007
by Nicolette Bethel
Last night I sat in the audience for the first time to watch You Can Lead A Horse To Water. As far as ‘Lawyer’ and ‘Son’ go, it’s not a huge difference but what was really interesting was how the scenes in the house played, and really how the Jury is perceived by the audience. In this production, ‘Son’ and ‘Lawyer’ are very well played indeed. There may be a difference in the way their scenes play from the perspective of the audience as opposed to the Jury, but it seemed to me that in this production there was chemistry between ‘Lawyer’ and ‘Son’ that I don’t remember in Nassau and Edinburgh. Maybe it’s that Angela Scott’s Lawyer was a more cerebral character than Megan Johnson’s Lawyer. What struck me most about the Jury is that every member, or almost every member, plays a part in bringing about the tragedy. This is something that I didn’t notice being a member of the Jury. Maybe it’s natural, as a Jury member, to want to wash your hands of responsibility. But from the perspective of the audience it grows more and more interesting as you see one individual after another step down from the Jury and make his or her mark on the lives of this family.
This production was also interesting because of the interpretation of the music. I don’t remember Horse sounding that bright. It could of course be the young voices, or it could be that different quality that black voices seem to have. Whatever it was, the timbre of the singing was different. That isn’t to say that it was bad. It was very good, and in some ways I benefitted. I heard harmonies that I hadn’t heard before. Philip thinks that it’s because we didn’t sing them but I think it’s because this Jury has a better balance than we did. All the choirs I sang in, in Nassau, tended to be top heavy. But what was most remarkable about this cast is that most of them don’t read music and they nailed Cleophas Adderley’s work. Hats off to the musical director Brieanne Roper.
I thought that this was a very strong production, and very even. There were some differences. Shavonne T. Coleman’s ‘Mother’ was played very differently from Claudette Allens’. This could be because of her age. But her performance was still strong enough to have people be shocked by the ending. I especially liked the fight scenes. ‘Son’, played by Michael Empson, gave a very even and very natural performance. His pathology comes through in his actions rather than in his delivery. I thought he was very good. The sisters were strong, and I particularly liked Lauren Gregory’s portrayal of ‘Sister One’, slut extraordinaire. ‘Neighbour’ was fun to watch, as usual, and although I hear her lines delivered in Gwen’s voice, Jillian Austin made that character her own. An interesting touch was added in this production because the actress who played ‘Neighbour’ is also the actress with the singing voice, and so she sang, There’ll be Company, Cause She Ain’t Gat Time and Children Watching. This added another layer to the Neighbour’s hypocrisy. ‘Other’, played by Sara Vazquez, was also memorable especially as it was clear she had worked on the Bahamian accent and had even mastered it to some degree. It’s interesting how small a role ‘Other’ actually has. The actresses that I have seen playing her have done a good job of bringing her to the centre of the action. All of the other characters were well done.
If I were to go into everything that I thought about every single one of them, you would never stop reading. Let me just say that the remaining characters that stood out for me were ‘Boss’ and ‘Wife’. The Boss (Kendell Joseph) was portrayed in a beautifully hypocritical way that was pretty authentic (maybe the fact that the actor is of West Indian stock doesn’t hurt). I particularly liked ‘Wife’ (Elecia Burrel) because she was biggety and she was rowdy and she got a good cut ass in another one of those brilliantly choreographed fights (did I say the fight choreography was really good?). Other characters that stood out were ‘Teacher’ (Chelsea Eileen), ‘Social Worker’ (Whitney Hershberger) and ‘Lover Three’ (Dustin Mason). ‘Witness’ (Lena Montgomery) also had her moments. All in all, considering the fact that this cast is removed from the context of the story in both time and space, they did a stellar job. I didn’t miss the accents at all. Horse is truly a universal play and this cast proved that.
This production was also notable, in that the lighting and the set design were done by someone other than Philip A. Burrows (this is not to say that Philip did not have major input in these areas). I suspect that he kept a tighter control over the lighting than the set. I don’t remember, in the productions that I’ve been in, what the colors on the cyclorama were. As a member of the Jury I probably didn’t know, or to be accurate, I didn’t see them, so if there was any variation in this productions’ lighting, that’s where it could have been. The set, however, while basically the same, with its platforms etc., incorporated little touches that I liked. It wasn’t completely symmetrical for one thing; the cell and the house were not mirror images to one another. The Judge’s bench had details that added authenticity that didn’t have to be there in the Nassau production. But what I really liked were the three frames that defined the stage. They could have been three porches, or three windows, or three houses, but they helped to set the scene, define the space, and locate the action. The lighting and scenic design in this production was by Alfred Sheffield.
The costumes, by Jill Dole Hamilton, were interesting because they were both familiar and dated. The costume shop took its cue from the 1988 production and you could see that, particularly in the dresses the women wore. The Judge had his gown and wig, the Lawyer had her bib or collar or whatever it’s called. The outfits that really struck me, besides the red dress and the white shoes, were the Boss’ suit, the Wife’s church clothes and the Teacher’s outfit, which made her look exactly like ex-pat teachers I have worked with.
Philip tells me that some of the cast members had never been on stage before. Kudos to them, and kudos to Philip. This was a strong production and it was a privilege to be able to watch it. I think that it’s time that Horse was revived for the Nassau stage.
(This review was accomplished by dictation.)
