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Page 16
Septem ber II, 2013
a curious story. De Woolf is based on
a slaver known as "Captain Jim" who
died a wealthy man after bringing an
estimated 10,000Africans to slavery
in the New World.
In 1791, John Cranston, a sailor on
one of Captain J im's ships, testified to
a federal grand jury that the captain
continued
from page 9
had thrown a nameless woman over­
board while she was still living be­
The Oregon Shakespeare Festival
cause she had become seriously ill
has waded in where angels fear to
tread with a new play this season,
with what was thought to be small­
"The Liquid Plain."
pox. The grand jury indicted the cap­
Part of a cycle of plays commis­
tain for murder, but later testimony
sioned to explore moments of change
supported his actions as necessary
in United States history, the play is
to save the ship's cargo - that is, the
set in 1791 in Bristol, Rhode Island, an
other slaves — and he was ruled inno­
important slave seaport, and explores
cent and went on to greater wealth
and power.
a complex set of connections be­
tween, most prominently, two run­
The real Cranston disappeared
away slaves, a white sailor, and a
into history - but, though well-played
notorious white slave trader. Its play­
by Danforth Comins, the play itself
ers guide the audience into moments
doesn't satisfyingly resolve the ques­
of deep recognition that transcend
tions raised by his place in the story.
some elements of the work that don't
One wonders what motivated the real
quite satisfy.
Cranston, who surely would have
The story revolves around Adjua
been of a lower class than the wealthy
and Dembi, lovers who have escaped
captain, to speak out against his ac­
slavery and are eking out a living in
tions. It's not hard to believe that, as
the seaport while trying to arrange for
portrayed here, he was more crude
passage to Africa. They find the body
than a moral giant, a product of his
of an apparently drowned white man
time and class—but the play relegates
who returns to consciousness as they
him to a type and doesn't wrestle with
are removing his clothes in order to
the complexities embedded in his
sell them.
story.
The man, who they dub "Tho­
A scene late in the play includes an
mas," is suffering from amnesia, and
encounter between DeWoolf and a
for a brief time the balance of power
free black woman with connections
is that he works for the two lovers as
to the drowned slave and to Adjua
he grapples with his own unstable
and Dembi. Though also not entirely
consciousness. Butas his self-aware­
satisfying, that later scene neverthe­
ness increases, so does his attraction
less contains some of the play's deep­
to Adjua and, accordingly, his con­
est moments.
flicts with Dembi.
Though it didn't strike me as a
photo
by
J
enny
G
raham
/C
ourtesy
O
regon
S
hakespeare
F
estival
It turns out that "Thomas" is really
believable representation of an en­
Adjua
(June
Carry/,
left)
and
Dembi
(Kimberly
Scott)
discuss
their
future
in
The
Liquid
Plain,
an
a sailor named Cranston and his
counter that could actually have hap­
Oregon
Shakespeare
Festival
play
set
in
1791and
based
on
the
connections
between
runaways
drowning was a failed murder attempt
pened, the scene resonated as an
slaves,
a
white
sailor
and
white
slave
trader.
after he gave grand jury testimony
imagined conversation in some alter­
nate universe between a slave de­
against De Woolf, a slave ship cap­ scendent and a man speaking from
tain. The play explores the connec­ his internalized justification for his
tions between these characters as role in a horrifying system of oppres­
Adjua, Dembi, and Cranston plan sion. Their exchange evokes a kind of
their departure from the port and ne­ agonizing recognition of how such
gotiate the balance of power between thinking reverberates in our current
them.
consciousness.
The play contains a host of in­
Perhaps the celebrated playwright,
triguing themes. How did African Naomi Wallace, was overly ambitious
people of ingenuity survive in a con­ in the number of themes herplay took
text where the stakes were so high on. It's difficult, even with more than
and nearly all of the options involved 150 years perspective, to make sense
unimaginable risk? The play offers of how people reconciled what they
the opportunity to sit with those did to their fellow human beings and
questions and dwell on what it meant why a small subset of whites showed
for people like this to love and dream themselves to be capable of higher
of a life together.
thought.
Adjua and Dembi exist in the inter­
Nevertheless, the play has mo­
stices of a brutal culture and port ments of real poetic insight, and its
economy that depends on trading players have entered into the work
ublisher and
peoplejust like them. That people like with commitment and intention. They
them managed to love and aspire in a usher the audience into the experi­
ditor in hief of
context that denied them the right or ence of reflecting on our shared past
even the capability of doing those with a reverence for its complexity.
the ortland
things is a reality worth contemplat­
Darleen Ortega is a judge on the
ing. The play also contains some plot Oregon Court of Appeals and the
bserver
twists which I'll leave for you to dis­ first woman of color to serve in that
cover but that locate the story of capacity. She also serves on the board
these two in some larger concerns of o f d irecto rs for the O regon
identity.
Shakespeare Festival. Her movie re­
The story of Cranston doesn't fare view column Opinionated Judge ap­
quite as well. He and De Woolf are pears regularly in The Portland Ob­
inspired by two historical figures with server.
Painful Truths
His Legacy
Will Live On
Charles H.
Washington
P
E
- -C
P
O