"The Convert" by Danai Gurira - Rush To Central Square This Weekend!

Adobuere Ebiama as Jekesai/Ester
and Liana Asim as Mai Tamba"The Convert"
Underground Railway Theater
Through February 28th
Photo: A. R. Sinclair Photography

Because of my travel schedule, I was only able to catch a performance of "The Convert" near the end of its run.  But I want to alert you that there are still a few more opportunities this weekend to catch this deeply moving and thought-provoking play by Danai Gurira.  Produced by Underground Railway Theater, the play is Directed with great care and insight by Megan Sandberg-Zakian.

The play is set in Rhodesia - what is now known as Zimbabwe - during colonial times.  The Roman Catholic Church has been aggressively evangelizing among the Shona and Ndebele tribesman, to bring them out of their "pagan darkness into the light of Christian faith."  The action concerns Jekerai, who is renamed Ester (Adobuere Ebiama).  In a nod to George Bernard Shaw and his play "Pygmalion," Ester is an African version of Eliza Doolittle in the hands of her own African Henry Higgins - her spiritual guide and master, Chilford (Maurice Emmanuel Parent), who seeks to remake her from a simple girl of the bush into his polished protege and fellow evangelizer. In order to please her new master, she must be willing to forsake her family of origin, her language, and her animist beliefs and practices to embrace fully her new adopted faith.

Equiano Mosieri as Chancellor
and Maurice Parent as Chilford
"The Convert"
Underground Railway Theater
Through February 28th
Photo: A. R. Sinclair Photography

The playwright, who has lived both in the U.S. and Zimbabwe, dives deeply into many layers of complications of the impact of colonial rule and exploitation.  Like the African men who are forced to work the mines, she burrows deeply into these themes to allow us to ask the question: "What did the colonizers and missionaries give, and how much more did they take away?" The play is a depiction of the sociological and anthropological effects of colonial rule, but it is also an examination of the results of proselytizing for the Christian faith.  The action is set at a time when a revolt on the part of the indigenous population leads to violence, and to deep divisions among the people and the characters of this play.

The cast is fleshed out powerfully by a strong ensemble.  There is Mai Tamba (Liana Asim), Chilford's housekeeper who secretly implores the spirits to protect the home, hiding amulets and talismans in the furniture and under the rugs.  Ester's cousin, Tamba (Ricardy Charles Fabre) is a young leader of the rebellion.  He ends up in a climactic confrontation with the philandering Chancellor (Equiano Mosieri).  Chancellor is engaged to be married to Prudence (Nehassaiu DeGannes), a brilliant and refined woman who has mastered the colonist's language, but has not swallowed their world view.  On the surface, she is refined and appears coopted by the white rulers, but when she speaks from the heart, she is a powerful advocate for her people.  Tamba's father, Uncle (Paul S. Benford Bruce) had tried to sell Jekesa to a man as one of his many wives, but she has fled to Chilford for safe haven and protection.

Maurice Emmanuel Parent as Chilford
and Nehassaiu DeGannes as Prudence
"The Convert"
Underground Railway Theater
Through February 28th
Photo: A. R. Sinclair Photography

The playwright offers up a cast of characters who represent a colorful spectrum covering extremes of complete assimilation into the world of the oppressor on the one hand and outright rebellion on the other hand - and several shades of gray in between.  The play, although set in a time long past, remains timely and relevant in terms of our current struggles with immigration policies and attitudes.

The telling of this complex tale is greatly enhanced by an evocative set by Jenna McFarland-Lord, Costumes by Miranda Kau Giurleo, Lighting by Devorah Kengmana, Sound by Nathan Leigh and Fight Direction by Andrew Kenneth Moss.  Dialect Coach Christine Hamel has added a valuable layer of authenticity by allowing the actors to reflect speech patterns of that part of the world.

This is a story of missionaries, mayhem, mercy, mining and marginalization.  Along the way, the playwrights asks us to consider what it takes to be a strong men and a strong woman under the duress and oppressive thumb of a conqueror.

If you have flexibility in your weekend schedule, head to Central Square for one of the final performances of this powerful play.  Saturday at 2:00 and 7:30 and Sunday at 2:00 at Central Square Theater.

Central Square Theater Website

Enjoy!

Al