One way to tell we are nearly halfway through the summer theater season is that there are almost as many shows about to close as there are new ones opening.
“Something Rotten” offered by Park Playhouse at Albany’s Washington Park and Saratoga Shakespeare’s production of “Twelfth Night” in Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, closed last night. But, this weekend adds a couple of shows to replace those that are closing.
They are an interesting combination. Each centers about the African-American experience, but neither are what might be called “issue plays.” “Fences” is August Wilson’s most popular play. First produced in 1985, it is set in the 1960s. It is a family drama about people whose lives have been affected by the segregation of the era.
It revolves about Troy, a 57-year old former baseball player in the Negro Leagues, who is now a garbage man in Pittsburgh. Denied the right to play in the major leagues because of his color, he is a bitter, unhappy man who alienates his family. The play traces his path and those of most African-Americans who, despite their talents had been denied access to the “American Dream.”
Despite the social issues included in this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, this is a story about family, failed dreams and endurance. It plays in repertory through August 27.
“Blues for an Alabama Sky” is another contemporary play that looks at the African-American past. Originally published in 1983, it is set in Harlem and takes place over an 8-week period in 1930. It’s a time that was known as the Harlem Renaissance which gave birth to black artists and leaders like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Adam Powell Sr. and W. E. B. DuBois. It is also the time of the Great Depression which crushed those specific dreams, as well as the dreams of most other Americans.
It takes place where several friends share a big house and bigger dreams. The dreamers and doers offer a wide range of personalities and goals. When not enjoying the fun of friendship there are moments of romantic conflict. It contains issues of racism, sexual identity, and abortion. Though written in the 1990s about 1930, Pearl Cleage has clearly created a play that speaks to the present. It runs through August 5.
But all is not about opening and closings. Lake George Dinner Theater is running the interactive comedy “Shear Madness” through August 26 and The Rep in Albany is pleasing crowds with energetic country musical “Honky Tonk Angels” until August 20.
It’s not yet August, so there is a lot of summer left. But as a procrastinator alert, remember time goes speeding by.
Bob Goepfert is theater reviewer for the Troy Record.
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