Unpacking in P’Town
Jewelle Gomez
New Conservatory Theatre Center
“Nothing erodes a mountain of pain better than a river of friendship.” So claims Lydia, one of four, long-term friends from yesteryear’s vaudeville circuit days who are once again returning to Provincetown for their annual, summer reunion. And in 1959, there is pain aplenty in the air of laid-back, sandy-dune P’town with new, intruding, and ugly cloverleaf highway construction; a City Council closing the local lesbian bar; and racial tensions growing for both Blacks and the local Wampanoag native peoples. Among the four, former “hoofers and crooners” of the stage, there are also lingering hurts of relationship break-ups, the foreboding of a split among two of them soon coming, and the threat that a treasured bungalow on the beach is about to become unavailable for their annual get-together.
But in Jewelle Gomez’s Unpacking in P’Town, these four rediscover through laughter, loving, and more than a few bottles of liquor that their friendship river truly runs deep – deep enough to allow both their gentle nudges and tough advice to intermingle with remembered stories and revived songs and dances of their life on the road together decades prior.
In her third, commissioned world premiere at New Conservatory Theatre Center as the final part of a trilogy honoring 20th century African American artists and performers (the first two being the 2011 Waiting for Giovanni and the 2017 Leaving the Blues), Jewelle Gomez once again more than proves her incredible mastery for combining history with heart, crisis with comedy, and memory with moving forward. When such a powerfully scripted new work is brought to life by a crackerjack cast, deftly directed by Kimberly Ridgeway with spunk and spark, and produced by a creative team with an eye to delicious detail, NCTC consequently has a hit on its hands, a world premiere that already feels like a mature and polished work and is definitely a must-see.
Buster and Scottie are a gay, Black-white couple – both now on the other side of a half century in age – who have been together for many years, often enduring as traveling performers the harsh prejudices in an era where everything about their relationship was against the law. Scottie (Matt Weimer) speaks profusely with the native accent of his birth (Scotland, of course) but also always with vocal lift and life that betrays both the gay and stage sides of his persona. Prone to break into a Broadway hit with a voice still stage-ready, Scottie is quick to quote Shakespeare or suddenly place himself mid-conversation in a Tennessee Williams play. Even though Matt Weimer’s Scottie seems always to be performing in the spotlight as most every conversation is accompanied by over-dramatic hand, arm, and entire body swirls, shakes, and swivels, Scottie has darker moments as he worries there are storm clouds brewing for him and Buster.
Buster (ShawnJ West) indeed has a recent history of eyes wandering to the tall dancer two floors above him and Scottie back in their Boston flat, but he announces upfront to us as audience that this is a summer of commitment and no flirting. His overall delightful personality and presence is enhanced by the smooth soft-shoe and talented tap moves he can suddenly display, especially when he and his former dance partner, Lydia, decide to practice a few steps for the upcoming, P’Town summer talent show. But Buster’s mood turns sour when he learns that Scottie wants to hide their relationship when Scottie’s dad soon comes to visit – made even worse when Scottie wants Lydia to pretend to be his girlfriend for a week.
Lydia (Awele) is the one straight in this quartet of vaudeville veterans, a Black woman also with a heritage of the native Wampanoag Indians in her blood. She brings an elegant, sophisticated air to the group but also a heart as big as the nearby Atlantic. A lover of Harlequin romance novels, she is quick to counsel her buddies with quotes along with chapter and page from her latest read, parsing out wise snippets like “Look to the horizon, not the footprint in front of you.” Well-placed advice to the others comes with wonderfully expressive eyes and side looks that speak a novel’s entirety; however, Lydia also has a personal issue that she is not-at-all interested in receiving anyone’s help to resolve – the Wampanoag part of her heritage that she is reluctant to accept or display.
And that really bugs her almost-sister and friend Minty (Desiree Rogers), who keeps encouraging Lydia to explore that part of her heritage. As a Black woman who conquered many barriers as a costume designer during an era where there was no one else in vaudeville like her, Minty has her butch side that moves about with confidence and a bit of even cockiness. She is full of one-liner responses that crackle in wit and wisdom (“He’s as nervous as a pimp in a PTA meeting”); but for all her no-b.s. manner, she is still two years later near-tears pining over the surprise deceit and break-up of her ex-lover, Erlene. Still, all her friends are quick to point out she cannot let a day go by without heading to the local pizza parlor to taste the latest creation (and maybe enjoy the latest looks of attraction) of a woman named Sarina.
Into this mix comes the local, late-teen handyman, Anando (Stephen Kanaski), whom the foursome of friends has watched grow up these past ten years and whom they all adore. Anando’s dad is the local baker, but the boy on the cusp of manhood feels smothered by the flour always in the air there and his dad’s expectation that his future is full of dough. Scared to tell his dad that he plans instead to apply to art school, he finds refuge and encouragement among these quirky friends. He also finds feelings that he is craving to explore and express – especially when Buster is anywhere nearby.
Into this script full of fun and frolic as well as dilemma and drama, Jewelle Gomez richly populates the names of yesteryear’s P’Town summertime visitors like Arthur Godfrey, Carmen McRae, and Tennessee Williams along with loads of song, screen, and stage references that are a ready part of the lexicon of the four. But there is also a sixth character that adds to the charm and magic of the P’Town summer for this five-person family of sorts: Miss Queppish, a spirit (one never spooky) who lives in Buster and Scottie’s attic, who appreciates the bottle of elderflower liquor left there each year, and who helps shape directions and decisions with mysteriously appearing items like pictures and paint brushes.
Miss Queppish’s oft-impish but clearly loving presence is the result of the combined creativity of sets and props designer Thomas O’Brien, lighting designer Stephanie Anne Johnson, and sound designer Lana Palmer – a winning team in every respect that has worked together to create a wonderfully lovely and funky seaside setting of two facing beach bungalows positioned in sand and sun. To complete the mix of the late ‘50s and beach-y scene are the period-and-setting-perfect designs of Nia Jacobs’, character-and-personality defining costumes.
Circling back to the opening quote – “Nothing erodes a mountain of pain better than a river of friendship” – Unpacking in P’Town is Jewelle Gomez’s love letter not only to the Black and LGBTQ+ stage stars too-long forgotten of an era where being so was near impossible but also is a testament to the power of friendship in surviving and thriving together through life’s challenges. Much-deserved kudos goes to all involved in this commissioned world premiere of New Conservatory Theatre Center and along comes this reviewer’s recommendation of do not miss this jewel by Jewelle.
Rating: 5 E, MUST-SEE
A Theatre Eddys Best Bet Production
Unpacking in P’Town continues through March 31, 2024, in world premiere production by New Conservatory Theatre Center, 25 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco. Tickets are available online at https://nctcsf.org or by contacting the box office at 415-861-8972 or at boxoffice@nctcsf.org.
Photo Credits: Lois Tema
