There’s an undeniable pleasure in pulling out an old sweater from the back of your closet and finding it still fits in all the right places. It’s cozy, comfortable and even though it’s not as trendy as it was when you first wore it, there’s a nostalgic delight that still washes over you as you slip it on. Just like your favorite old sweater, Ossie Davis’s infrequently produced 1961 play “Purlie Victorious” has been brought back to life thanks to Studio Theatre’s artistic director David Muse and director Psalmayene 24 and it’s a rare and special thing to experience.
Bringing new energy to older work on stage isn’t always easy. Much like that old sweater, there can be loose threads, stretched hems or a few stubborn stains that need an extra scrubbing. In the masterful hands of Psalmayene 24 (who’s still basking in the glowing reviews of “The Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest” at Mosaic Theater Company), Davis’s Beecher Stowe-styled characters are rendered in technicolor by a cast of actors fully rounded in their performances.
“Purlie Victorious” tells the tale of Purlie Victorious Judson, a high-minded and loquacious itinerant preacher who returns to his home state of Jim Crow era Georgia in the 1950s armed with a daring scheme to win back ‘Big Bethel’ – the local community church – from the stereotypically evil and racist local landowner Ol’ Capn’ Cotchipee. Written by Davis in the wake of Emmett Till’s murder, the comedy highlights the inherent absurdity of segregation in the American south through humor, farce and anachronistic “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” inspired characters set within a prototypical, pre–Civil Rights Movement Georgia landscape.
Like old fabric worn thin yet still carrying a familiar luster, Davis’s Reverend Purlie (played to detailed perfection by Warner Miller right down to the faint sheen of sweat on his forehead), his parochial accomplice and love interest Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins (Danaya Esperanza, who has oodles of fun with the role), Purlie’s brother Gitlow Judson and his wife Missy Judson (Jason Bowen and Kelli Blackwell respectively) are instantly recognizable tropes. Davis – a Howard University alum – was no doubt aware of this and the covert ability of Purlie, Lutiebelle, Gitlow, Missy and the Simon Legree-like Capn’ Cotchipee (Stephen Patrick Martin) to needle the hearts and minds of the Broadway audiences who would have purchased tickets to see the play when it first opened sixty five years ago.
Psalmayene 24’s “Purlie Victorious” is freshly laundered, updated and ready for a night out on the town. No attention to detail has been spared, from the squeaky screen door hinges to the sweet potato pie and the smooth as silk southern dialects. Alexander Woodward’s set design and Cidney Forkpah’s costuming accentuate Davis’s fast-paced and virtuosic script, which is honored by every actor onstage and by Psalmayene 24 himself. As the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is assailed across the country and as we commemorate Juneteenth, “Purlie Victorious” is a timeous reminder that the fight is never really over. Go see it now.
“Purlie Victorious” is on now at Studio Theatre thru June 21.
