By: Ntozake Shange
At: Congo Square Theatre at Duncan YMCA Chernin Center for the Arts,
1001 W. Roosevelt
Phone: ( 773 ) 296-1108; $25
Through March 6
It's a good thing that Ntozake Shange's latest 'choreopoem' bears the disclaimer that it is a dream play. Otherwise Shange's Lavender Lizards and Lilac Landmines: Layla's Dream, now receiving a fine professional premiere by Congo Square Theatre, would be even more head-scratching and disjointedly ponderous.
Like her breakthrough 1970s piece for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Shange's ellipsis-inducing …Layla's Dream is culled from her punctuation-defiant poetry and experiences as an African-American woman. The structure is non-linear, shifting between characters' multi-faceted perceptions and experiences.
While this was all daring and fresh during the 1970s when African-American culture was enjoying a 'Blacksploitation' resurgence, … Layla's Dream feels strangely more contrived and pretentious more than 30 years after for colored girls … first burst onto the scene.
This latest Shange effort feels overstuffed. It centers around a troubled alcoholic poet named Layla who dreams of supportive friends and a multi-national collective of protector spirits who eventually help her to break away from the oppressive drug-abusing man/lover/overgrown-child who is crushing her true self.
While Shange has a mellifluous way about describing the glories of physical contact or the relationship inequities between men and women, there is too much ground being covered to really make you care about the multitude of characters and what they have to say.
Worse, Shange induces audience whiplash by throwing in topics like anal sex and cannibalism that pop out of nowhere. For example: the Jeffrey Dahmer cooking show monologue shows the insensitivity of Layla's boyfriend, but it so out of left field that you're shocked that Shange even went there.
If Shange's play is a mixed bag, at least Congo Square Theatre's casting and physical production all prove to be winners. In the lovely theater space of the Duncan YMCA, designers Jackie and Rick Penrod ( sets ) , Justin Stone ( lighting ) and Michelle Mottram ( costumes ) all create wonderful visuals among a world of fabric and stacks of oversize books and diaries. Layla's undulating silhouette in the throes of passion was one particularly memorable image.
Director Chuck Smith pulls out strong performances from the actors, milking whatever characterization they can from Shange's shaky framework. Standouts include Monifa Days as Layla and Bakesta King as her friend Boo. Some of the other ensemble characterizations feel more surface ( especially those with dialects ) , but they are all hard at work with Shange's challenging material.
Shange's play may all be a dream, but that doesn't entirely forgive its odd scattershot approach and feel-good pat conclusion. Still, there's no denying Shange's piercing insight into a variety of issues and Congo Square's fine physical production, so cuddle up to … Layla's Dream with caution.