Over Forty @ Jubilee Theatre
—Jan Farrington
If you figure you know what Over Forty is about, you’re probably right.
But it’s fun all the same.
So what if two-thirds of the audience at Jubilee Theatre could climb up onstage and chime in with chapter-and-verse of the joys and woes of getting older? (For some of us, in fact, “forty” would feel like a picnic; we’ve gone on to bigger numbers.) Celeste Bedford Walker’s popular play has a lot of truth to tell, and preaches it in the most entertaining way possible—with plenty of song, dance, and bits of comic business from four fine actresses.
Jubilee artistic director D. Wambui Richardson directs with a good eye for the way these ladies bounce off and around one another: teasing, sniping, making fun and getting down to it. Cast and director don’t minimize the regrets and disappointments, but at this “retreat” for women, blue skies are regularly cleared by a stream of comedy “bits”—improvised, rehearsed, or (probably) some of both. In either case, they work to keep us in the mood to hear more from these “funny girls.”
The prolific Houston-based Walker, who will receive the Texas Institute of Letters (TIL) Lifetime Achievement Award in April, has been writing plays for decades. As with Over Forty, they’re often a blend of drama, comedy, and music—and always with interesting conversations among the characters. The songs of this show are a mix of spirituals, gospel hymns and original numbers written by Walker and composer Weldon Irvine.
Perched and hidden high above the Jubilee stage, music director Steven A. Taylor is lively and versatile on the keyboards, accompanied by fine drum work from Ledrado “Dre” Guildford. Junene K choreographs the clever dances, giving each of the four actresses (and she’s one of them!) their own style and tone, and bringing things snappily together for group numbers. And Hope Cox’s costumes do a lot to let us “see” each character through their clothing choices.
Junene K plays Annie, the hostess of the retreat, a preacher’s daughter and long-married mother of seven. (She startles the others by calling this is a “lock-in”—nobody, she says, is leaving “until we reach peace.”) Contessah Irene Davis is Gwen, divorced with kids. Gutsy and bold, she insists she’s a “tweenager”—caught between young and old—and a bit obsessed with the “strong young bodies” she sees, now that she’s dating again. Beryl (Kris Black Jasper) is a never-married judge who still lives in her childhood home. “Mother says…” begins a lot of her sentences, but she’s smart and (maybe) ready to make changes in her life. Patricia (Crystal Williams) and her husband are corporate climbers trying (maybe too late) to have a baby.
The plot has a lot of pieces. It’s enough to say that these four women poke, nudge, console, encourage, put down, and lift up—calling out statements that don’t feel right, searching for direction, working to discover (finally, for real) what they’re after, what they want to happen in the rest of their lives. Beryl the judge helps them along by creating a “court” where tough questions are asked, among them: Why didn’t he love me? Why do you want a baby so bad? What happens when the house is empty—except for the two of us?
Walker’s story made my head “do the math” about these women’s cultural references, which seem to let them float amusingly in time. One character’s mother gives her Shirley Temple curls; others remember being young in the volatile ‘60s—and Gwen can rap, so go figure. No, don’t go figure: the all-over-the-map history connects this quartet to many generations, and that might just be Ms. Walker’s point.
All four actresses sing well, and have moments that give their solo voices a chance to soar. Songs include old favorites “Wade in the Water,” “Since I Laid My Burdens Down,” “In the Still of the Night,” and “Stand By Me,”—along with original numbers that include “Over Forty,” “We Need Our Men,” and “A Little Age Sits Well.” And there’s a genuine feeling of friendship and warmth onstage, very like the bonding that sometimes happens in a retreat or a weekend gathering.
In short, Over Forty is an upbeat, engaging, tuneful show with a fine bunch of ladies onstage, ready to tell us all about their lives…and our own.
WHEN: Through April 24
WHERE: Jubilee Theatre (off Sundance Square, Fort Worth)
WEB: jubileetheatre.org (box office: 817-338-4204)
