Victoria Loyd and Christina Cranshaw in ‘Bondage’ at the Undermain Theatre. (Photos by Paul Semrad)
Seriously, it has taken me a long time to process Bondage now playing at Undermain Theatre. Star Finch’s play was a mix of drama, gothic storytelling and horror all in the backdrop of slavery and class systems. The play was a riveting start to Undermain’s 40th season but also a glorious mindfuck that may leave you silent well after the cast bows.
Bondage centered on two young women Zuri and Emily (Victoria Lloyd and Christina Cranshaw) who are on the cusp of womanhood, but as they mature, their roles as slave and owner begin to replace their young friendship. They live on a plantation in an unnamed Caribbean island where Emily’s widowed father Philip (Jim Jorgensen) milled about rather than served as head of the household. Two mother figures, Emily’s Aunt Ruby (Kristi Funk Dana) and Zuri’s elder Azucar (Rhonda Boutte) served both wisdom and hatred in their own ways.
Philip has eyes on Zuri with dreams to take her away. The stern Ruby wants Emily to be a proper woman. Azucar faithfully serves the family but offers wisdom to the young Zuri who seems to be in the center of the plantation’s vortex. The dynamics of the characters had such an underlying tension that would grow into a boil with intense and violent results.
In her Undermain debut. Lloyd brought a confidence to her role that empowered Zuri. So that when she was betrayed by another character, Lloyd’s strength and defiance painted the character with empowered strokes. Cranshaw gave a layered performance that was part naive, strong-willed and certainly entitled. The two actors’ chemistry as friends/sisters/master and slave felt true thanks to their committed performances.
Jorgensen succeeded in portraying the aura of weakness of Philip. His acting was on point as his character immediately radiated a failed and misguided desperation but still gave hints to the man the character once was.
Boutte and Dana were two sides of the same coin. Although Azucar was certainly hardened, Boutte gave her a warm heart but at crunch time, she switched gears when the show’s reckoning was in motion. If there was ever a villain, it was Dana’s Ruby. With just her intense glares, Dana was perhaps the scariest part of Bondage. Ruby’s prejudice and judgment was in full force and Dana played that with haughty flare.
Jiles R. King directed the show with a patient hand. The story built up to quite a climax but it felt that King led it with a certain patience. Finch’s dialogue was engaging and the interpersonal relationships were compelling that there was no need to rush. He and the cast were enrapturing with Finch’s words that resulted in multiple audible gasps and even laughs for the show’s sly humor. Finch was in the audience and told me after that she wrote this to tell her daughter about slavery without dampening her spirits. In doing so, she also created a powerful story for American theater.
Expect Bondage to leave an impression. The show runs through Oct. 15.
–Rich Lopez
