"Ma Rainey's Black bottom,"
a revealing play
Storefront portrayal of racism and degradation in white -
controlled world is engrossing and entertaining.
BY
R O D G E R
L A R S O N
a Rainey’s Black Bottom” is not a
musical, though there is music in
it; it is not about Ma Rainey,
though she is a character in it. The focus of the
play is not on the famous Blues singer but rather
on the four members of her back-up band. All
are Black men and each has a perspective on
what it means to be oppressed. Storefront
Theater’s production is a powerful and engag
ing look at the oppression and its consequences.
The setting o f the play is a recording session
in Chicago in 1927. Much of the action takes
place in a basement rehearsal room where the
band waits for Ma Rainey to arrive and then
waits again while Rainey and her white man
ager, Irvin, and the white owner of the studio,
Sturdyvant, work out their conflicts. It is in the
basement, behind the scenes, that these men
can be themselves. They bicker and they argue,
but they wind up telling their stories to each
other. Each one has developed mechanisms for
surviving in a white-controlled world; each has
learned to cope with the degradation and hope
lessness of lives as servants and second-class
citizens who have been exploited, abused and
worse.
Three of the band members have been with
Ma Rainey for a long time. They are older and
they know the score. If they’re not resigned to
their status they're at least realistic about it. The
fourth musician, Levee, is younger and impa
tient. H e’s tired of playing “ jug band music.”
He wants to play something more real, more
alive. We all know that he is talking about
jazz, but jazz has not yet come of age. Levee is
also ambitious. He wants to have his own band
and to write his own songs. Mr. Sturdyvant has
promised to give him a chance. The others
know how to take Sturdyvant’s promises, but
Levee takes them seriously.
When Ma Rainey finally arrives at the
recording studio the tensions that have been
developing among the band members are tem
porarily dispelled. The singer is all gold and
glitter. She is a star, and that gives her clout.
Irvin and Sturdyvant are no match for her: What
Madame Rainey wants, Madame Rainey gets.
Levee is very impressed with Rainey. He wants
M
what she’s got (even including her girl friend).
The others are more open-eyed about her. Once
they are back downstairs in the rehearsal room
they point out to Levee that her power is condi
tional and limited. Even the great Ma Rainey
can’t get a cab and can’t stay in a downtown
hotel. Levee isn’t moved. He wants his own
band and to play his own music, and he’s
willing to bend and scrape before the white man
to get it. The others respond with scorn.
The play is a powerful and successful por-
t r ayal o f the destructive impact of racism, but it is
not without its problems. At least part o f the
message seems to be unclear, because o f a
paradox in the character of Levee. He sees a
new kind of music on the horizon — a more
direct and more powerful expression of the
Black experience than the simple countrified
classic Blues Ma Rainey sings. In this respect
he seems to look ahead to an era when Black
music will have come into its own. On the other
hand, o f all the Black people in the play, Levee
is the most burdened victim of racism and, in
the long run, the most completely destroyed by
it. The music he envisioned was bom and came
to flourish, so what are we to make of his
destruction? Is the author trying to tell us that
for every “ man with a horn” who became a
great jazz player there were dozens who never
made it? That doesn’t seem to have been
enough of a focus of the play to explain the
ending.
An unanswered question is not the worst
thing a play can leave its audience with and
“ Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” leaves us with
much more. The play is well acted and well
paced. The play remains a drama despite the
two musical numbers which enliven the action
without redirecting our attention to musical
entertainment. Sheila Dale is a glamorous and
strong-willed Ma Rainey. Nyewusi Askari
plays the double bass, sings, and portrays the
mostly comic character. Slow Drag, all with
great style. Rick Jones takes the most demand
ing part as Levee and makes of him a credible,
though not entirely sympathetic, character. All
in all, Storefront Theatre’s production is en
grossing and entertaining, with enough mean
ing and substance to make it a very worthwhile
evening at the theatre.
•
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