REVIEW: Something Moving (Ford’s Theatre)
Preview: In Something Moving, the world premier play opening this week at Ford’s Theatre, the subject is simple: the legacy of the first Black mayor of Atlanta, Maynard Jackson. In a place defined by its rebound from Confederate industrial hub, to nothing but smolders, and back to a city of global prominence, nothing is said to have been a breakthrough in Peach City’s local history more so than Jackson’s 1973 election. The event set in motion a domino effect that culminated in Atlanta’s hosting of the 100-year anniversary Olympics in 1996, bringing with it the entire world’s attention and solidifying its status as a major destination. Yet, you wouldn’t know that from watching the play. Nor would you feel any particular reason to care -- both being shortcomings of this dull, talky production that wastes the talent it has on-hand.
Book: Playwright Pearl Cleage, the man’s former speech writer and someone you would reasonably trust to paint an interesting, nuanced picture of him, somehow omits all intrigue. Instead of this, we’re thrust upon with what feels like several actors reading from his Wikipedia page with the cadence of a slam poetry night at Busboys. Characters are dry and pointless, to the point where none even have names one can keep track of (who is Citizen 8? Why does it even matter?) As for the alleged book: the narrator/director/historian, the “Witness”, is there to direct a play about Jackson featuring the Citizens. At the top, nobody knows anything about Jackson. As the amateur actor Citizens perform on-book, some sort of hidden empathy about his history floods their synapses. Suddenly, these regular Atlantians are positively gushing about the mayor they knew nothing about 15 minutes ago. They say so much, yet tell us so little. The word “Atlanta” I’m pretty sure is mentioned one (1) time, instead peppered throughout by the indirect descriptor of “our town”. (They say it SO many times, typing that out elicited a brief physical reaction from me, like a Cold War sleeper agent). Somehow I learned next to nothing substantial about his actual mindset or personality over those 90 minutes, but hey, at least we learned that he visited a gay club once for optics. (Although it was strangely omitted that he was transphobic. [NOTE: 18+ link, included for historical context]) 0/10
Acting: There are several DC favorites in this production: Billie Krishawn (and her wonderful, if not limited, use of sign language), and Susan Rome to name a few. And yet they are all wasted horribly. Bouncing around the stage in a knot of dialogue, slide projections, and “our town”s, each actor has performance ability that is suffocated by sheets of dialectical plexiglas. I don’t want to knock them, because I know they can do better. Play the hand dealt, I guess. 1/10
Production: There are some good uses of patterned lighting here and there, but the play basically does not exist without its reliance on slide projections of various pictures of Jackson. The technical highlight of this is Milagros Ponce de Leon’s worn-in multipurpose room. Its dated colors, analog fans, and grime give the space signs of life. 2/10
VisDev: Pre-show staging is a worn-out community center multipurpose space with some tables, chairs, and old fans, with a door for entry and exit. Program art is a generic red-white-blue election design with the title of the show. I make note of the staging above, but I don’t think it’s great at expressing the message. 2/10
VERDICT: Something Moving is just the antithesis, an immensely static work that says nothing about so much. 5/40
