Culture Surfing

MAKING WAVES: Bernardine Mitchell in A Cool Drink a Water at Horizon Theatre

Thomas W. Jones II seems to have found a summer home at Horizon Theatre. The actor/director/composer co-founded Jomandi Productions in the late 1970s, but left the Atlanta-based African-American theater company in 2000. In the past decade, however, Jones has frequently collaborated with Horizon on summer productions that coincide with the National Black Arts Festival, including his world premiere musicals Two Queens, One Castle and Three Sistahs.

Jones takes to the Horizon stage to co-star in his latest world premiere, A Cool Drink aWater. A non-musical play, Water nonetheless presents a kind of jazz improvisation on themes that Lorraine Hansberry explored in 1959 with her landmark African-American drama A Raisin in the Sun. Andrea Frye directs the oft-engaging comedy/drama that seems more confident with the comedy than the drama.

Continue reading “Cool Drink’s comedy comes at drama’s expense”

(Photo by Allie Bartelski)

Bookmark It

WIGGIN' OUT: Karan Kendrick (seated) and Tonia M. Jackson

You can probably tell more about people based on their hairstyles than on factors such as astrological signs, political party affiliations or favorite TV shows. Horizon Theatre’s comedy And Her Hair Went With Her takes place at an African-American hair salon and at one point, two stylists judge personality types based on their hairdos. A tall, natural afro signifies health and freedom, “black women with braids got their shit together,” and more.

Fashion aficionados could read volumes into the different wigs and ’dos chosen for Horizon’s hilarious production, but And Her Hair Went With Her only devotes a fraction of its 90-minute run to hair-centric discussions. Hairstylists Angie (Karan Kendrick) and Jasmine (Tonia M. Jackson) spend most of their time encountering wacky customers and arguing over cultural values that could come up at any number of places, not just the beauty shop.

Angie, an intellectual, Angela Davis-worshipping would-be writer and single mother, advocates for higher learning and cerebral pursuits. Jasmine embraces her sensuality and her McDonald’s habit with earthy abandon. While Jasmine’s not against education, she’s also in favor of keeping it real. In between clients, they quiz each other with Nina Simone trivia and discuss whether “chitlins” should be enunciated as “chitterlings.”

Continue reading “Diverging plot gives Horizon’s Hair split ends”

(Photo by Allie Bartelski)

Bookmark It