Meet Me at the Oak – A Family’s Living Legacy Threatened by Bigotry

 

I have to thank Joyce Meggerson-Moore for two reasons. First off, as chair of the New Horizon Theater board of directors, she allowed me to review the company’s latest production three days before it closed.  Normally, reviewers are expected to see a production on opening night or shortly thereafter.

Her thoughtfulness introduced me to Layon Gray, a playwright I had never before encountered, but one to keep an eye on, judging by his insightful and emotion-packed Meet Me at the Oak.

Secondly, the play, staged at Pittsburgh Public Theater’s third floor Helen Wayne Rauh Rehearsal Hall, provided me with two hours of gripping narrative played out by a septet of accomplished actors and a solid and inventive production staff.

The mood starts out rather ominously as the audience listens to Billie Holliday’s haunting 1939 protest song, “Strange Fruit” piped out into the theater as we look on set designer, Herb Newsome’s, comfy, cozy and warm domicile flanked by two white picket fences on either side. While unobtrusive and nearly inconspicuous, they have a significant relevance to the plot.

Tahliah Rose Bergel as Ruthie and Thaddeus Daniels as Jonius Credit all Photos to Layon Group

We get a taste of happy family life when Jonius (the large and imposing Thaddeus Daniels with a voice to match) sternly yet lovingly admonishes his playful tomboy daughter, Tahliah Rose Bergel, not to climb the massive oak standing on the edge of the property.

Kenya Wilson as Selma and David Roberts as Luther Credit: Layon Group

    The warmth of the living room increases a few more degrees when Selma, Jonius’ wife, enters carrying packages of groceries from the local Piggly Wiggly. A fitting antidote to her husband’s somewhat gruff and crotchety temperament, she’s a gentler, calmer influence in the household

The energy is kicked up to a higher level with the arrival of close family friend, Luther (David Roberts), a dynamo in a large framed body who playfully and verbally jabs with Jonius all the while salivating at the thought of getting some of Selma’s gumbo heating up on the stove.

The family’s joyful camaraderie is shown in a lively scene in which they all form a typical New Orleans funeral line dance, Jonius carrying an open umbrella, the others following waving white handkerchiefs.

An even more entertaining dance breaks out when Jonius plays a record on the old 50s phonograph, and each character breaks out into a series of very amusing and diverting dance routines to the sound of “Jambalaya.”

One of the play’s most salient moments comes when Jonius relates a tale about the importance of the old oak to the family. It’s a tale he often repeats, although none of the listeners seem to mind.

The story traces the family’s history back generations to when Jonius’ great-grandparents were lynched from the tree in the Antebellum era.

Survivors carved the initial of their slain relatives into the trunk of the tree and, the third Sunday of the month, the family gathers at the venerable tree to memorialize their ancestors.

David Roberts as Luther

    The plot soon segues into even darker territory when Luther tells the family that a White neighbor just moved into the house next door. Jonius is immediately concerned saying “Something not fit right.”

Relations between the families start off cordial when Selma meets Mary (Lillian Monique Sherman), the neighbor’s wife. After a bit of friendly how-do-you-dos, Selma allows Mary to short cut across her property to and from the market.

Ruthie, however, get sa more hostile response from Frank (Sal Rendino), her bigoted neighbor, after a ball she was playing with rolls onto his property. After she retrieves it, Frank storms into the house and threatens further action.

Things grow even worse when Mary trips on Jonius’ property and is knocked unconscious. When Luther intervenes to help, Frank sees it as an act of aggression and thinks he pushed his wife. As tempers flare, Jonius reaches for a gun he has hidden in a box, only to answer the door to find a bloody Luther enter after getting a thrashing from Frank

          On a complaint from Frank, the deputy sheriff, Earl (Dennis Brito), arrives to take Luther into custody. Sympathetic to the family since boyhood days when Earl and Jonius played together, he takes Luther to jail.

To make matters even more dreary, Earl later arrives with a writ to have the tree cut down and removed.  A review of the property line that morning showed that the boundary between the two neighboring properties was misaligned and that the tree legally sits on Frank’s property.

The playwright takes the audience on a gamut of emotions, carefully crafting a dramatic narrative that has nary a languorous moment. In the initial scene when Luther enters the house and begins his back-and-forth dialogue with Jonius, some of the dialogue is lost because the two actors deliver their lines at a fast pace

Daniels is a true family patriarch showing careful balance of dominance and caring. His strong voice should be enough to frighten 11-year-old Ruthie, but while submissive to her father, she also seems to know that his bark is probably a lot worse than his bite.

Sherman and Wilson both give standout performances, Wilson as the strong but gentle matriarch, Sherman as the affable neighbor who tries to placate her hot-headed husband.

As Frank, Rendino’s threats are believable and intimidating, and you might fear for the worse when Jonius counters with an equally bellicose disposition. As the deputy sheriff, Brito’s mild-mannered persona is a welcome buffer to any potential slugfests or worse.

Adding a bit of electronic wizardry to the production, Adrian Cole creates an impressive collage of family portraits on the old oak, and the lit up spelling of the letters BEN, the initials of the hung relatives, on the tree is another clever visual element.

To see how the playwright resolves the dramatic tension and perplexing dispute over the tree is best reserved by having an in-person experience. Watching how things unfold live and on stage is definitely worth the price of a ticket.

Lavon Gray’s Meet Me at the Oak is at the Helen Wayne Rauh Rehearsal Hall at the Pittsburgh Public Theater, 621 Penn Avenue in Downtown Pittsburgh. Through March 1. For tickets, go to https://www.newhorizontheater.org/