‘Fannie: The Music & Life of Fannie Lou Hamer @ Bishop Arts Theatre Center (w/ Dallas Theater Center)
—Ramona Harper
It’s Freedom Summer, 1964, and Fannie Lou Hamer’s fiery energy draws us into her life as a foot soldier—on a march for freedom in the Mississippi heat of oppression. Cheryl West’s Fannie: The Music & Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (a regional premiere collaboration between Bishop Arts Theatre Center and the Dallas Theater Center) is a play-with-music—in part a one-woman narrative starring Dallas’ own superstar Liz Mikel, and in part a revival, brim-full of freedom songs from the civil rights movement of the Sixties.
Under the creative genius and in response to director Akin Babatunde’s challenge to “Turn a history lesson into a theatrical experience,” Fannie succeeds in telling the inspiring life story of an impoverished sharecropper’s daughter with a sixth-grade education, whose fearless leadership and unrelenting commitment to civil rights force a nation to change. She’d go on to receive honorary doctorates from several American universities.
“A life well-lived” is an epitaph that aptly describes Fannie Lou Hamer, iconic 60s civil rights leader and activist, particularly her work to secure voting rights for Black Americans and the desegregation of political representation through her founding of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and her leadership in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Yet, when you consider the tragic events in Hamer’s life—the house bombing, the brutal jail beating and other threats to her life—one questions the term. How can this be a well-lived life under ceaseless threats of physical harm and mental trauma? Fannie captures the agonizing moments.
But Hamer held on to a higher vision. She believed that a grassroots freedom movement held the promise of a diverse, equitable and inclusive society for all Americans—and she knew how to talk about it: “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” … “When I liberate myself, I liberate you.” And though she showed her most vulnerable side in another famous quote—”I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired” (spoken on the national stage of the 1964 Democratic Convention), she stayed strong.
Liz Mikel is amazing as Hamer. The play is a theatrical gift to this brave woman and to all who have the blessed opportunity to see the production. Mikel’s acting choices project a persona that is forceful without being abrasive, and loud—though also loving and lovable.
A superb actor and vocalist, Mikel has returned to Dallas after a couple of runs on Broadway, and in the national touring company of 1776. Mikel uses her multiple talents to perform on stage, TV and film, and in cabaret and studio recording; she is a member of the DTC’s Brierly Resident Acting Company.
In response to director Babatunde’s insightful note that she “eliminate Liz and be Fannie,” Mikel succeeds in leaving much of herself behind to fully embody this powerful activist for civil rights. Her pregnant pauses, when she takes a moment to just deeply breathe, are filled with silent meaning. You believe you are actually seeing Fannie Lou Hamer narrate her life story as she generously includes you in all of her ups and downs.
During the 1960s, freedom songs played an important role in giving voice to the movement. They also helped to mobilize and unite freedom fighters, instilling courage and hope in the face of real danger and political violence.
The freedom songs of the times become essential elements of Fannie’s story. A trio of superb musicians perform with Mikel: Alisa Yarbrough and Cavin Yarbrough on keys with Kevin McIntosh on guitar provide instrumental accompaniment and sing back-up. And when the spirit moves her, some of Mikel’s powerful vocals are sung a cappella: Fannie sings “This Little Light of Mine” to stave off fear as she’s taunted and beaten by Mississippi segregationists.
A strong spirit of joy moves through the house as Mikel’s Fanny encourages audience participation on other well-known freedom songs rooted in the religious tradition of the Black church: “Oh Freedom!”… “And Before I Be a Slave”… “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around”… “We Shall Not be Moved” and “Eyes on the Prize.” The show closes with James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice,” the Negro National Anthem with its powerful message of unity.
The simple set holds a power of its own, centered in a floor-to-ceiling graphic backdrop that implodes the senses as it projects the US flag in color—overlaid with black-and-white photos of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman (the interracial trio abducted and murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi during a voter registration drive) and a photo of hands in chains.
A skilled projection design team brings it off beautifully: Sound/Projection Operation by Zetra Goodlow, Projection Mapping by Cameron and Courtney Ware, and Projection Imagery and Composition by Bob Lavallee.
America’s political protest theatre has played an important role in stoking the flames of social justice. In Fannie, playwright West (Jar the Floor, Akeelah and the Bee, Pullman Porter Blues, Shout Sister Shout) uses the power of theater as an agent for social change, and the formidable and unforgettable voice of Mikel’s Fannie Lou Hamer to speak truth to power.
The Bishop Arts Theatre Center celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024, under the impassioned commitment of founder and executive producer Teresa Coleman Wash to create “an arts establishment that reflects the power of the arts to transcend boundaries and illuminate the human experience…an inclusive community that embraces the richness and amplifies the voices of the often unheard.”
Kudos to Bishop Arts in association with the Dallas Theater Center for presenting Fannie: The Music & Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, a must-see masterpiece of contemporary relevance, reminding us at a time when things are changing that yet, in troubling ways, they remain the same.
WHEN: May 2- May 18, 2024
WHERE: Bishop Arts Theatre Center, 215 S. Tyler St., Dallas
WEB: bishopartstheatre.org
