“Stew” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

[rating=4]Shattered Globe Theatre’s production of “Stew”, written by Zora Howard and directed by Malkia Stampley, is nourishing, peppery, and full of spice. Replete with combative exchanges, this drama involving the Tucker family takes place in “Mama’s Kitchen”, where Mama (in a stinging performance by Velma Austin) busily creates a stew that is intended to serve over 50 people at the annual Mt. Vernon Church social. Whenever Mama takes a brief moment away from her cooking and does not personally tend to the pot, the stew gets burnt or ruined in some way, much to her frequent upset. And then she has to turn around and start another batch.

The characters consist of four African-American women and girls, each with strengths and vulnerabilities. Daughters Lillian (Jazzma Pryor) and Nelly (Jasmine Cheri Rush) and granddaughter Lil’ Mama (Demetra Dee) congregate in the kitchen ostensibly to help out Mama with the cooking. Lillian is married to J.R. and has two children—Lil’ Mama and Junior—but feels trapped in her marriage. Nelly is single and 17 years old, involved with a man who she considers to be Mr. Right. But when she gets pregnant, she’s unsure if she really wants to have a baby at this time in her life. Lil’ Mama shows great promise as an aspiring actress. Although all of the family members attempt to deal with their personal issues on their own and think that they know how to handle them, it turns out that Mama has been “around the bend” a few times herself: She knows exactly what they are dealing with at these delicate moments in their lives, and she has a very good sense of how to help them out, especially by assuaging their fears and worries.

Lillian and Nelly apparently neglect the important things that Mama cherishes or they haven’t yet learned all the lessons about life that Mama is available to teach them. Lil’ Mama, however, appears to be the most anxious to learn, in keeping with how she is an “old soul” and how personal characteristics often skip a generation, hence her name “Lil’ Mama.” In fact, we see how the pains and travails of one generation become the pains and travails of the next. The story goes forward and yet it goes full circle. Like a bicycle wheel that rotates and yet goes back to the same spot on the wheel, the rider is nevertheless propelled forward in time and space. You are in a different place. Mama feels that she has finally been given the right and permission to swear and yet she invariably returns to having Jesus on her mind and church music on the radio.

A recipe is made up of two major components: ingredients and preparation. You can start with the best ingredients, but if not for the correct preparation, the final product might be bound for disaster. Whether it’s the snap beans, the collard greens, the meat, or the potatoes, it’s not just the raw ingredients that make for a great meal but how well the mixture is boiled, simmered, and blended together, without being overcooked or undercooked. If it’s prepared wrong, it could all turn out to be garbage. “Stew” is thus an analogy about life. The pot has to be watched and attended to, just like children’s lives have to be tended properly so that they can grow up into strong, independent adults. Regarding the stew itself, Mama says to Nelly, “It’s not that it has to be good; it has to be ready.”

One of the best parts of the show has to do with what initially seems like a digression; yet it is very important to the plot. Mama once ran community theatre in Mt. Vernon, New York, and feels obligated to impart her acting tips when Lil’ Mama receives the part of Queen Elizabeth in Shakespeare’s “Richard III.” In this segment, Mama demonstrates to Lil’ Mama how to emote strong feelings having to do with the bond between a mother and her baby and what it means to suffer a child’s birth and death. She uses the prop of a sweet potato (or a yam) to serve as the baby. A potato could not be a more perfect illustration of domesticity, and Mama takes this microcosm of life from “Richard III” and relates it to her own family situation, namely, the agonies of having children and having to raise them properly.

A gorgeous feature of this production is the set design by Sotirios Livaditis, who has created an authentically-looking kitchen that is a bit of a hodgepodge with colors that date from the 1950s, with appliances in light Sherwood green and the floor in white and turquoise green vinyl tile. Prop designer Persephone Lawrence-Wescott has added to the overall effect with, of course, aluminum pots and steel clad pans and other kitchen accoutrements, plus spice containers of modern vintage. Costume Designer Austin Winter has done a nice job creating various outfits; my favorites are the nightclothes, especially the Japanese-inspired gown that Mama wears and the dress that Lil’ Mama wears that is black on top with black and white squares and a black bow on the skirt portion. It is very professional-looking for a theatre audition, but other than Mama, none of the other characters seem to like it.

I felt as if the playwright didn’t know how to end the story and therefore tucked in the death of a character whom we never see on stage. While gunshots and killings are a daily occurrence especially in certain neighborhoods, this part of the script seemed forced and an afterthought. As it stands now, this leaves the audience hanging, and we never have the opportunity to fully grieve for the family’s loss or with the family as a whole, whom we’ve gotten to know in great detail. Perhaps inverting the last two sequences in the show might have worked better as well as inserting some dialogue in between so as to smooth out the rough edges. Above all, since the action is centered around the stew, it needs to stay that way from the opening to the very end.

Ultimately, this is a story about love and family dynamics. It can explain why Mama has become the church-minded person she is and holds the values that she does and how she deals with both the triumphs and adversity in her life. It can explain her investment of time and emotion into raising her progeny. When the stew is boiled and simmered properly, it is only because Mama is in control… or so she would like to think. But she realizes that this control is only fleeting as she gets older: It eventually has to be given up in favor of teaching the next generation the recipe and also where it came from. In the meantime, however, just when things are copasetic, there’s that damn old dog that keeps barking and disturbing the peace in the neighborhood. Try as you might, nothing ever goes the way you want it to.

The Chicago Premiere of “Stew” is playing through October 22, 2022, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue, in Chicago.

Tickets:

$45 general admission
$15 students
$35 seniors
$25 under 30 years old
$15 industry tickets on Thursdays and Fridays with code “INDUSTRY”
Group discounts are available by contactinggroupsales@shatteredglobe.org or by calling 773-770-0333.

Performance schedule:

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays – 8:00 p.m.
Sundays – 3:00 p.m.

Touch Tour/Audio Described Performance: Friday, October 7th
6:45 p.m. touch tour, 8:00 p.m. performance with audio description.
$20 tickets available with code “ACCESS20.”

Global Perspectives: SGT will present a series of post-show discussions with the artists following the Sunday matinee on October 2, 2022.

For more information about this show and to purchase tickets, go to: https://sgtheatre.org/stew/, by calling 773-975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago.

For general information about Shattered Globe Theatre and their offerings, visit: https://sgtheatre.org/.

“Shattered Globe understands that ticket prices can pose a financial burden and, at times, an obstacle for theatregoers. A number of waived tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis for students and community members experiencing access barriers to theatre. If you would like to be added to SGT’s Waived Ticket Waitlist, please email lswanson@shatteredglobe.org. Please note: all requests must be completed by 12:00 p.m. the Friday before the performance you would like to attend. The email will not be monitored at all on weekends or after 5:00 p.m. on weekdays.”

COVID-19 protocol: All patrons at Theater Wit will be required to show proof of full vaccination before they enter the lobby. Please note that masks are mandatory for all patrons for the entire duration of the performance, except when actively drinking beverages. Visit sgtheatre.org/stew for more information.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Stew”.