The civil rights battle depicted in ‘Cadillac Crew’ echoes through today
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
rich@dallasvoice.com
Four women work together to aid in the battle for civil rights in the 1960s: three Black women and one white woman all volunteering to fight for equality in the office setting of Cadillac Crew.
The drama, which opened last Friday at the Bath House Cultural Center, is a co-production of Echo and Soul Rep theater companies. The show is making its regional premiere.
Director Anyika McMillan-Herod found the collaboration an inspiring effort for both companies.
“Kateri [Cale] gave me a call that this was a play they wanted to include, and it turned out to be a perfect vehicle for us to collaborate again,” McMillan-Herod said. “I think they wanted a team of like-minded folks to be part of this play that deals with American and Black history. It was thoughtful to be included in this.”
Cale is the managing and artistic director of Echo Theatre, which focuses on theater by women-identifying playwrights. McMillan-Herod is the executive director and co-founder of Soul Rep. Her company gives attention to transformative Black theater.
Like-minded indeed.
Anyika McMillan-Herod
It’s set during the civil rights movement, and Rosa Parks is expected to deliver a speech, creating the catalyst for Cadillac Crew. As the time for Parks’ speech approaches, the four activists in a Virginia civil rights office discuss amongst themselves the notion of equality and whether that extends to women.
As they all dissect the movement, an abrupt change of plans and disturbing news sets the characters in motion.
Going into opening weekend, McMillan-Herod was pleased with Cadillac Crew’s progress, both in its production and it’s story. She had four weeks to pull it all together, and an able cast helped move things along for the director.
The show stars Mikaela Baker, Autumn Robinson, CD Lovehall and Stephanie Oustalet, with Rikeya Jones and Haldey Shipley as understudies.
“They are amazing, and we were able to cast close to the age of these characters. But it’s not an easy piece. There’s difficult language and time shifts. There was definitely work to be done, but they were great and ready for it,” McMillan-Herod said.
Mostly, though, with a cast of actors new to the companies, McMillan-Herod wanted to provide a safe space. There were delicate matters in the show that could be triggering.
“I’ve always looked at theater and this beautiful craft as a tool to be better human beings, so we had many conversations to make everyone feel OK,” she said. “The subject matter is heavy. It’s the ’60s, but it’s also beyond racism and colorism, abortion also.
“But that exists now, too.”
The conversations about the issues mirrored conversations many people are having right now, she said.
Cadillac Crew has its queer undertones as well, adding to the texture of the production.
“I love that queerness is a major part of this as well. Being a queer woman out loud in the ’60s is this added exploration into the human experience of the last 60 years,” the director said. “Plus with actors who are queer, it’s all very interesting to work through.”
The queer aspect extends to the show’s fast-forward in the second act — not so much in the action but in the parallels of the battles for equality and even simple mentions of Black and queer populations in alignment.
“There are many layers here, and we counted 30 issues that come up in the play which can go wrong easily,” McMillan-Herod said. “But with Tori Sampson’s writing, it weaves all these challenges in a relevant way that doesn’t preach to the audience.”
There is humor in the play as well; as McMillan-Herod says, with pain there is joy.
“Ultimately, we all leaned into these characters who are authentically human in all their identities,” she said. “It’s criminal and disheartening that these clocks are turning back, so I hope this emboldens a call to action as we tell this story.”
Cadillac Crew runs through Sept. 30. Visit EchoTheatre.org for tickets and information.