‘Bondage’ @ Undermain Theatre
Photos by Paul Semrad
—Chris Sanders
According to the Oxford dictionary: Bondage (noun, origin Nordic)— 1. the state of being a slave. 2. sexual practice that involves the tying up or restraining of one partner.
Bondage also is the name of a play written by Star Finch, in its regional premiere production at Undermain Theatre. The title is an apt description for everything its 13-year-old character Zuri must navigate to survive the world in which she’s been placed.
Zuri, played by Victoria Lloyd, is an enslaved teenager on an isolated plantation who must cater to the needs of her half-cousin, Emily [played by Christina Cranshaw]. Zuri’s mother was the product of Emily’s grandfather…forcing Zuri’s grandmother. Zuri and Emily’s mothers were raised as playmates as well as slave and master, at least according to Emily’s telling, and the half sisters were inseparable. One wonders how much of this is nature and how much nurture, as the two girls’ white aunt Ruby [Kristi Funk Dana] repeatedly voices her disdain of both Zuri and her mother. Never once does she view Zuri as her niece, and even scoffs at the idea that she would be in any sense related to a slave.
The past dynamic of Ruby vs. Emily’s late mother is a reflection of what each may have thought of enslaved people: favorite plaything, or a threat to their status. Ruby’s disdain could be the influence of Ruby’s own mother one generation back—a married woman with a husband who seemingly would rather pursue his carnal pleasures with someone not considered fully human or even fully woman. Instead of feeling for a woman who risked… herself for rejecting his advances, the master’s wife likely turned resentment of her husband’s infidelity toward the enslaved woman, and then conditioned her elder daughter Ruby to do the same. Since, as…women, they could not direct their anger towards those who actually abused them with power, they had to ensure that there were others beneath them to take their frustrations out on.
Meanwhile, Emily’s mother (Aunt Ruby’s sister) was likely a “daddy’s girl”, because it is said that she loved her half-sister. Loved her so much that when the latter died, the former ended her own life to follow. Some may romanticize that even death could not keep the sisters apart, while others may see that even in death a slave was still…bound. This is why it’s so troubling when Emily is described as having similar traits to her mother, which can be viewed in her…intense fondness for Zuri.
The relationship between the two teens is about as disturbing as the relationship Emily’s father Philip (Jim Jorgensen) tries to foster with the 13-year-old house slave. He inappropriately touches her, though oftentimes without actually touching her at all, under the guidance of Sara J. Romersberger’s movement and intimacy direction. He makes suggestive comments, gifts her secondhand dresses (designed by Ava Roberts-Kamaria), and eventually speaks of whisking Zuri away to some foreign land. Of course all of these promises can only come to fruition, when “he” has freedom from his responsibilities as a slave and land owner.
The voice of reason for Zuri—and the play—comes through the role of Azucar, played by Rhonda Boutté. She is Zuri’s enslaved elder, and helps the girl navigate how she truly feels about her bondage, versus what the masters see her do and hear her say. Zuri and Azucar’s interactions are a study in direction and theatre collaboration. Zuri speaks in a British accent with the slave masters, and switches to a natural accent or patois with Azucar. This accent or code switching addition, was born from the work of Bondage director Jiles R. King II and dialect coach Anne Schilling along with Ms. Lloyd, who had to master the vocal changes and know precisely when to switch them. Through the code switching, the full plot, and even this review, so much is said to the audience without saying much at all. One needs to learn to read…between the lines.
To get a better grasp of the deeper meanings, go see Bondage, by Star Finch.
WHEN: September 28-October 15
WHERE: 3200 Main Street (Deep Ellum), Dallas TX
WEB: undermain.org
