Theater Review; Juneteenth play captures Bethune's struggles

MARTY ROSEN
Special to The Courier-Journal

In terms of sustained courage and sheer moral clarity, the African-American leaders who came of age in the South in the late 19th century may be the greatest generation America has ever known.

Against the brutal backdrop of post-Reconstruction Jim Crow racism, it was a generation that dreamed of transformation and struggled, step by incremental step, to turn a population of brutalized, illiterate slaves into an educated, dignified culture, laying the groundwork for the civil-rights struggles of the last century.

The Juneteenth Legacy Theatre, which over the past few years has carved a niche for itself with biodramas depicting some of those leaders, is highlighting one of the most formidable of all in its current production, "Faith, Hope and Charity: The Mary McLeod Bethune Story," written by Samuel L. Kelley and directed by Kathy E.B. Ellis, which opened at the St. John's Renaissance Center on Thursday night.

As Kelley tells the story, Bethune (1875-1955) was the first of her family to be born free. And though her family had a Bible on the mantel, no one in the family could read it. When the Presbyterian Church opened a school in her hometown, Mayesville, S.C., Bethune's father sent her to school, on the assumption that she could teach her 16 brothers and sisters to read. In time, her studies would take her on to seminary school and to the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

She became a visionary educator in the South, opening a threadbare elementary school that eventually would grow to become a four-year college.

As is often the case, Juneteenth tells the story in staged reading with minimalist sets; at times it seems more akin to radio drama than live theater but is still powerful.

The three cast members shift deftly from part to part. Thea Browning (serving mostly as the young Bethune) brings a bright idealism to the part. Cederic Shields, who portrays a series of men and women (from Bethune's father and first teacher to Franklin Roosevelt, who called on Bethune for advice during the Depression), displays an extraordinary range of vocal and comic range. Angela Tellis (serving mostly as the "Old Mary") infuses the play with the required moral gravity.

And all three players give the play a boost when they sing, as they often do, creating a pulsing gospel soundtrack to underscore the action.

Theater review'Faith, Hope and Charity: The Mary McLeod Bethune Story'Next performances: Today, 4 and 7 p.m.; St. John's Renaissance Center, 637 E. Market St.