Theatre Talk - Aurora's "Safe House": To Free or Not to Free

Before the Civil War (1861-1865), the war that purportedly emancipated slavery in the United States, the Underground Railroad was a clandestine operation organized by people who helped slaves escape to freedom. The Underground Railroad provided runaway slaves (runaways) with food, transportation, and hiding places, known as safe houses. Harriet Tubman, a well-known runaway and abolitionist, used the Underground Railroad and the safe houses to help hundreds of slaves make their way to freedom.

Playwright Keith Josef Adkins thought his ancestors who lived in antebellum Kentucky were slaves. When his grandmother told him they were not, he did not believe her and began researching his family history. His familys remarkable truth and Americas long history of serfdom inspired Adkins to write Safe House.

Safe House, set in Kentucky in 1843, is a story of a free colored family. The family has been placed on a two-year moratorium for harboring a runaway. We meet the Pedigrews two days before the probationary period ends. As their privileges (e.g. shopping whenever they want, going out after sundown, and swimming in the crik) will imminently be reinstated, Addison (David Everett Moore), a cordwainer and the familys breadwinner, has radical plans for his shoe-making business. That aside, he is very much a play by the rules type of colored man. Hes the kind of colored man who is obtrusive toward his free-willed, defiant brother Frank (Lance Gardner). Frank is disinterested in the business and in being a good boy. He incessantly swims in the crik, even though he should not because he is hot. With two days of probation left, Addison cannot let Frank jeopardize his plans. When Frank does not concede to the restrictions, Addisons impatience grows; and we find that the eldest male Pedigrew is selling more than just shoes.

Throughout the story, Addison is an imposition upon Frank. The urgency that the audience feels is Addisons desperation to be acknowledged by white folks for his shoe-crafting capacities and a desirous wish for his brother to shape up. Roxie (Jamella Cross), a runaway who doesnt like to wear shoes, has a different perspective. When Dorca (Dawn L. Troupe), the Pedigrew matriarch, hands Roxie a pair, she quips, I like my feet free...looks like shackles. Roxie later calls Addison out on his imprisoning ways: You just like to keep people in shoes!

Every single actor embodied their characters beautifully.

David Everett Moore is brilliant as Addison, whose conviction to pursue his lifes dream is far more important than anything or anyone.

Lance Gardner is disruptive as Frank. He shakes things up a bit and is a reminder that resistance and protest show up in many forms.

Dawn L. Troupe gives a riveting performance as Dorca. Whether she is at the directorial helm, working as an educator, or portraying a character, Ms. Troupe is thought-provokingly engaging!

Bracken (Cassidy Brown) is the deputy sheriff and family to the Pedigrews. Brown personifies wonderfully a socially inept white man who is nonpareil to the family, but because Bracken is white, he is the law. And...what the law says, goes!!! There are pivotal moments in which Brackens humanity is challenged. He grapples with his dualism and it is a complexity that is interesting to watch.

Clarissa (Dezi Soly), the Pedigrew brothers love interest, is quite the coquette and exemplifies well how I imagine a demure, colored woman in 1843 would behave. Soly is as darling as can be!

Jamella Cross delivers endearing, painstaking moments, scene after scene. Cross shines as Roxie!

Direction by theatre magnate, L. Peter Callender, artistic director of the African-American Shakespeare Company, was compelling and formidable.

ALL I WANT IS A CHANCE! are the last words iterated in the production and its relevance in 1843 is as resounding in 2016.

In the wake of recent political events, one of the things that people fear most is that their chances or access to opportunities will be obliterated. For others, there is fear that the scarcity they have always experienced will perpetuate and be punctuated. Will America continue to be a safe house for the citizens it has always protected and provided for? Will it begin to safe-house those who have long been marginalized and overlooked?

What does a man do when he cannot find refuge in his own home, or a place hes known and called home for so long? Dorca Pedigrew seems to know...

A chance, when endowed, is the most freeing gift that gives cause for change in an individuals life. All I want is a chance (too). Isnt it what we all want?

To free or not to free...

Previously produced at Cincinnati Playhouse and Repertory Theatre St. Louis, this production of Safe House marks its West Coast premiere. Safe House is currently playing at the Aurora Theatre , 2081 Addison Street, Berkeley, CA 94704 . The show closes on Saturday, December 4th.