Through Sun 3/27
When evaluating a performance at Dobama, the mantra to be used is, “Would Donald approve?” Donald, in this case is Donald Bianchi, who, in 1959, with a small and enthusiastic group of thespians, founded what we now know as Dobama, Cleveland’s off-Broadway theater.
Donald was a quirky, creative perfectionist. He set the theater’s mission as “to premiere important new plays by established and emerging playwrights in professional productions of the highest quality.” He was undoubtedly the best director I have ever worked with. He demanded high quality.
Would Donald have looked favorably on James Ijames’ Kill Move Paradise, now onstage at Dobama? Yes, absolutely YES! The play script is creatively written. The production is high quality from the cast, to the set, to the lights, to the sound, to the electronic media. The essence of Donald is shining on this meaningful staging.
“Mr. Ijames, who has said his play is inspired by the shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by a Cleveland police officer… shows his characters trying to find the logic in the senselessness. It is a torturous and fruitless process.” In this production, it creates a hypnotic theatrical energy of fear, rage, disgust and helplessness.
Kill Move Paradise is a tone poem of a play. Using vocabulary that is expressive, emotional and often figurative, it’s the tale of African-American males who are wrenched out of their young lives before they have fully lived those lives, simply because they are black and subject to stereotypes and societal fears and prejudices. They learn the lesson early to keep both hands raised, never looking “the man” in the eye, and being careful of what and how they communicate.
“Kill Move Paradise tells the story of Isa, Daz, Grif and Tiny, four black men who find themselves stuck in a cosmic purgatory in the afterlife. While balancing the reality of their past and the uncertainty of their future, their souls try to find peace from senseless action and hope in the life they left behind.”
The play is a clear statement that black lives matter, that these young men do not deserve the fate that has been handed to them, that enough is enough, and that there is a major problem in America that needs to be fixed.
Using a fascinating theatrical device, the actors spend much of their time looking at and talking directly to audience members. They provoke reaction by directly asking, “Why are you sitting there staring at me?” “Do you see me.” “Do I scare you?”
The Dobama production, performed in a set that resembles a skateboard park, is brilliantly staged by Nathan Henry. He wrenches all the emotion that is present in this bleak, often humorous, beautiful drama.
The cast, Mell Bowens, Jr., Ananias J. Dixon, Aamar-Malik Culbreth and Darius Stubbs, works as a well-oiled unit. The actors play off each other and create clear individual characters, yet mold into a symbol of a common message. They are each remarkable.
Because we Clevelanders are so attuned to the heinous murder of Tamir Rice, as youthful Culbreth, known as Tiny, slides over one of the walls of the skateboard park, holding a toy gun, we know he represents Tamir. The Baldwin Wallace freshman develops the youth with clarity and purpose. The other characters are not as person-specific, but as the list of those who have been murdered by police is read, individuals come to mind. This effect is made vivid by the electronic media.
Laura Calrson Tarantowski’s set, Marcus Dana’s lighting design and Derek Graham’s sound design all enhance the show.
Capsule judgment: The Dobama production is brilliantly staged by Nathan Henry. The cast — Mell Bowens, Jr., Ananias J. Dixon, Aamar-Malik Culbreth and Darius Stubbs— work as a well-oiled unit to create a vivid depiction of the misguided mistreatment of young black men in America. This is a must-see production. As Donald Bianchi said, “Take the risk with us. We are all in this together. We all own it.”
Kill Move Paradise runs through Sun 3/27. For tickets call 216-932-3396 or go to dobama.org/tickets-index.
[Written by Roy Berko]