‘Crumbs From The Table Of Joy’. Written by Lynn Nottage. Directed by Tasia A. Jones. Sound Design by Aubrey Dube. Costume Design by Mikayla Reid. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco. Lighting Design by Eduardo Ramirez. Produced by Lyric Stage at 140 Clarendon Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02116 runs from January 10th – February 2nd.
By Charlotte Snow
“It smooths my pain, and that’s all I want right now,” earnestly pleads Godfrey Crump (Dominic Carter), during a verbal altercation with his late wife’s sister. That aspiration of finding hope can be found in all five of the characters who populate Crumbs From The Table Of Joy, now playing at the Lyric Stage.
This 1995 Off-Broadway play, by eventual Tony and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, has received an incalculable amount of regional productions across the United States since its inception. Told from the perspective of the eldest daughter, Ernestine Crump (Madison Margaret Clark), the play recounts the months when her family moved from Florida to Brooklyn in the 1950s following her mother’s untimely passing. A lot of the play’s initial conflict stems from how each family member clings to hope and how each person’s preferred method of escapism collides with the other family member’s.
Our lives come with many hardships, in varying forms. At some point, on some level, we all yearn to lessen or escape our pain entirely. Lynn Nottage gracefully captures this universal truth and imbues her characters with it. She allows them to be complicated but never villainized. Nottage is one of America’s most prolific living playwrights, and audiences familiar with her work can expect to see a staging of a top-notch script. Despite Crumbs From The Table Of Joy being among her earliest works, this play is not an exception to that expectation. It was a rare moment when I was not either leaning forward or on the edge of my seat. Nottage is a true artist of dramatic exposition, setting up and propelling conflict, and delivering on setups. Director Tasia A. Jones concisely directs this deceivingly simple family dramedy and smartly leans into the momentum and emotionality inherent in this play. No moment, whatever its significance, is wasted. The design team creates a whole world in the interior of a tiny Brooklyn apartment. Scenic Designer Cristina Todesco expertly manages to up the play’s stakes by cutting off most of the stage’s depth and focusing the eye on the venue’s thrust stage. Every beat feels heightened because the characters are so deliciously confined to only so many square feet. Mikayla Reid’s costume design, Eduardo Ramirez’s lighting design, Aubrey Dube’s sound design, and Lauren Corcuera’s props all play an expert hand in capturing the play’s 1950s Brooklyn setting.
At the center of this production are the performances from this talented ensemble of actors, who constantly listen to and bounce off each other in a way that feels spontaneous and alive. The cast has a wonderful forward momentum that drives the text, but are never afraid to let certain moments build or hang in the air. Thomika Marie Bridwell and Dominic Carter shine as Lily Anne Green and Godfrey Crump. Carter carries himself with the gravitas and heartache of a grief-stricken patriarch desperate for answers, while Bridwell acts as his foil, a street-smart communist with a penchant for the wonders of the here, now, and the future. Madison Margaret Clark gracefully portrays the young narrator, Ernestine Crump, who prefers to observe and deliver insights on the action within the play rather than make unnecessary waves in a storm. Watching these three actors effortlessly play off each other made me forget that I was watching a play.
Rounding out the cast is Catia, who plays the vivacious and world-eager younger sister, and Bridgette Hayes’ Gerte Schulte, a stranger who stumbles into this family conflict. While both actors delivered remarkable performances, their characters felt a little underdeveloped due to limited stage time. But when all of the characters are onstage, sparks fly.
Crumbs From The Table Of Joy starts slowly but is ultimately a delight from start to finish. Sadly, hope is a scarce commodity at the moment, but this story reminds us of the power of hope and how even a little can go a long way. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.lyricstage.com/
