September 25, Opening Night Join us for a free post-show cast party after the 8pm performance. September 28, Post-Show Conversation Join the cast for a free conversation after the performance. October 4, Post-Show Conversation Join the cast for a free conversation after the performance. October 25, Post-Show Conversation Join the cast for a free conversation after the performance. November 10, Post-Show Conversation Join the cast for a free conversation after the performance.
They say they was paying two dollars a day but when we got there they say a dollar fifty. Then they say we got to pay two dollars room and board. They sent us over to a place the man say we got to put two dollars on top of that…Come payday they give me three dollars say the rest go on my bill…I told the people at the mill I was gonna get another job.
He is willing to sell out his race wholesale for personal gain. The recipient does not mourn the loss and the perpetrator does not acknowledge the crime, for you cannot mourn a loss or acknowledge a crime you deny.
This can occur at a community level, where horror committed to a group is kept in a collective psychic tomb, its reception and perpetration, passed on in silence, which of course means that there is no real closure and the wound festers inside to haunt the future Caesar is now the tragic perpetrator who perpetuates the oppression of slavery for the characters of the play.
See if I can keep Caesar on the other side. The way he going he gonna have everybody in jail. So, now that we know who has become the oppressor and who is being oppressed, who then is our hero?
Or, heroine? Enter Aunt Ester, the spiritual leader of her community and a bona fide washer of souls. Barringhaus puts it simply and truthfully, Her presence is what connects all of these people as one.
This subsequently leads to Caesar shooting Solly and finally Black Mary and Citizen to step into their new roles which affects the future generations… , pg Every generation of oppressed people must have their savior.
Those who lived through slavery found theirs in Aunt Ester. Naturally, I'm reading the plays in the stories' chronological order: Gem of the Ocean and the early s first. Ester, over years old, is known as a "washer of souls". To her house comes Citizen Barlow, a young man who desperately needs some soul-cleaning.
Also in the mix are Solly, who wants to rescue his sister from the Jim Crow South, Rutherford Selig, a local peddler, and Caesar Wilkes, Mary's brother, a power-mad constable. A drowning, a potential factory strike, and a post-slavery Underground Railroad figure into the plot. I like how the play delves into the factual and spiritual history of African-Americans from the Middle Passage to slavery to freedom to Jim Crow.
It reveals how White America put so much energy into trapping the Blacks in bondage decades after slavery ended. Aunt Ester is what you'd expect from an Earth Mother--wise, caring, at times critical--and she's a fascinating character. The play evokes Biblical images as well as what may be echoes of African tribal spirituality. I think August Wilson's characters and scenarios are rich and engaging, but to my experience so far, at least some of his plays are weak on plot. Interesting things happen and I learn a lot, but I don't feel satisfied at the end of the journey, as if some goal was missed or not even noticed.
Jul 03, Adira rated it liked it Shelves: african-american-literature , books-about-traveling , finish-up-series , recommended , anticipation , kickbutt-heroines , books-that-deal-with-slavery , historical-fiction , coming-of-age , library-book. I didn't enjoy this play as much as the other Wilson's play I've read. I feltas if too many themes were packed inside of it and the ending wasn't as strong as other endings such as Joe Turners Come Gone or Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
I enjoyed the character of Aunt Ester and the tidbits of history that came from the play about American Slavery. I would recommend this play to anyone who wants a quick read since the play is only 80 pages in total.
Mar 09, Mike rated it it was amazing. I'd seen a couple plays live and was not blown away but they were student presentations. Reading this, the first one Knocked me out. Brought tears to my eyes. I would love to see this performed by great actors. May 02, Leah Weyandt rated it it was amazing. You see, Mr. That piece of paper say I was property. Say anybody could buy or sell me. The law say I needed a piece of paper to say I was a free woman. Oct 22, Michael McClain rated it it was amazing.
In , Citizen Barlow comes to the home of the healing matriarch Aunt Ester for absolution and redemption. What he encounters is an awakening to himself and the spirits of the African-Americans who came before him. Spiritual and full of sumptuous Wilson dialogue, the characters ponder the price of the freedom they have won and the responsibilities they owe to the past and the future.
Jul 20, Landon rated it it was amazing. I enjoyed books like this; it didn't take me long to finish this book. I wasn't on Goodreads to actually, leave a review but the storyline was good.
I'm an August Wilson fan. Loved this story and Wilson's work. This book was an excellent introduction to the genius of the late August Wilson; he was a genius, an extraordinary playwright, and myth a writer who gives you a snapshot of the African-American experience in America. When I was in school, I was in performing arts so that is how I got into I enjoyed books like this; it didn't take me long to finish this book.
When I was in school, I was in performing arts so that is how I got into Wilson work. I truly enjoyed this book. I was charmed by the characters and engrossed by the dialog. This is an excellent piece of work. This is my first read of the Century Cycle. I will reserve further comment and perhaps alter my rating upward after I have read more of the books in the cycle.
Surely this book, and I would think the entire Century Cycle, should be required reading in any high school curriculum. Jul 30, Ian rated it it was amazing Shelves: drama. I had a chance to see this performed at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
The director of the play hailed August Wilson as the 20th Centuries Shakespeare in the notes. Well, I can not disclaim this statement without reading more, which I am hoping to do soon. Oh by the way this reads easily without having seen the play. I began with this play which is the first chronologically in the series. I thought this play was good but I felt there was something missing from it. Feb 01, Dee Mills rated it it was amazing Shelves: read , library-cumberland , plays.
This was an excellent read. I believe this is Wilson's first play in his decades series. His writing is so accessible. Mar 13, Rick rated it really liked it Shelves: drama. The Gem of the Ocean is the name of an imaginary ship that assists individuals in a personal journey of spiritual rebirth. Aunt Ester, who may be centuries old, is the mystical source behind the ship. Solly Two Kings self-named in honor of Solomon and David still makes trips into Alabama to help relatives escape from the terror and rigged poverty that sustains segregation.
He is not popular among his neighbors because he is also a landlord and is unforgiving when it comes to shortfalls in rent payment and violent in his enforcement of the law and his own sense of authority. There is a theft at the mill, a factory that is the only game in town and that handles its employees only marginally better than the way sharecroppers were handled in the South.
Things quickly escalate as a young man dies and a strike follows. Citizen Barlow is somehow connected to the troubles and his conscience is under siege. Wilson sets the plot going immediately and the characters and circumstances quickly fill out. The dialogue is often electric, like a great blues song or spiritual. Aunt Ester could be simply older than anyone can remember or she might be literally years old. Solly Two Kings might be a marginal striver or an American Odysseus. Apr 07, Izetta Autumn rated it really liked it Shelves: playwrights-are-sexy.
Part of August Wilson's historic ten-play cycle, Gem of the Ocean is the story of Aunt Esther, a woman said to be over years old with healing powers. Aunt Esther becomes a figure throughout Wilson's plays. For those unfamiliar with Wilson's ten-play cycle, here's some background: Wilson, an extremely prolific playwright, made a commitment to write ten plays over a decade, each play corresponding to a decade in the lives and history of Black America - from Reconstruction to the early s Wi Part of August Wilson's historic ten-play cycle, Gem of the Ocean is the story of Aunt Esther, a woman said to be over years old with healing powers.
For those unfamiliar with Wilson's ten-play cycle, here's some background: Wilson, an extremely prolific playwright, made a commitment to write ten plays over a decade, each play corresponding to a decade in the lives and history of Black America - from Reconstruction to the early s Wilson passed away in Gem of the Ocean investigates justice, guilt, community, and the other worldly.
Of the Wilson plays I've seen and read, Gem of the Ocean, has the most fully developed female characters - womyn who exist outside of their relationship to men. In part, I am sure, because it is Aunt Esther who own the supernatural spiritual gift in this play. The central plot device of the play is the mystery of who stole a bucket of nails from the mill capitalist power and a visit to the city of bones.
Giving away more than that will take away from the revelations in the play. Sep 04, Simon rated it really liked it. Plays are meant to be seen and not read, and I wish I had seen this one onstage. There is a dramatic moment when Citizen visits the City of Bones that must have been breathtaking when fully realized in front of an audience. August Wilson wrote ten plays that took the African-American experience through the 20th century. Gem of the Ocean is set in , and the leading character of Aunt Ester is billed as years old, which puts her birth at , when the first slaves arrived in Virginia.
Make of that what you will. The language is glorious. Sign in. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Literature Poetry Lit Terms Shakescleare. Download this LitChart! Teachers and parents! Struggling with distance learning? Our Teacher Edition on Gem of the Ocean can help. Themes All Themes. Symbols All Symbols. Theme Wheel.
0コメント