Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Major New Voice in American Theater Emerges with 'The Convert'
Pascale Armand and Zainab Jah (Photo: T. Charles Erickson)
()
Danai Gurira's "The Convert," which opened last week at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, is old-fashioned high drama for a very contemporary audience. Set in late 19th century colonial Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the play depicts a cultural and ultimately violent tension between traditional and assimilationist African communities.
Caught between these two factions is a young woman, Jesekai (Pascale Armand), who escapes her uncle's (Harold Surrartt) attempt to force her marriage to an elderly man by joining the household of the devout local Christian leader Chilford (Leroy McClain). Under Chilford's tutelage, Jesekai is renamed Ester, learns to speak English and sincerely embraces Roman Catholicism, even taking to the streets to recruit additional converts. But when members of her original family rebel against the British authorities with whom Chilford is aligned, Ester is compelled to prioritize between the irreconcilably competing ties of blood and faith.
As the stakes of Jesekai/Ester's identity crisis increase to an excruciating breaking point, her every decision is challenged by another, older and worldlier converted woman, Prudence (Zainab Jah). Prudence and her fiance Chancellor (Kevin Mambo) are close friends of Chilford who have also cast their lot with the colonial forces, albeit for material rather than spiritual reasons. While Chancellor proves to be a cynically loutish creature of appetite, Prudence is a witty and sophisticated proto-feminist devoid of rosy illusions about the consequences of the choices she has made and the choices that have been made for her.
A co-production between three leading national theater companies -- our own Center Theatre Group, Princeton's McCarter Theatre, and the Goodman in Chicago -- "The Convert" is by turns very funny and impossibly heartbreaking, with a near-perfect cast directed by Emily Mann. We weren't sure what we were in for when the usher taking our ticket casually mentioned the play would last three hours with two intermissions. But Gurira's well-crafted, emotionally jarring drama had us engrossed the whole time and convinced that we were witnessing the emergence of a major new voice in the American theater of our still-young century.
Support for LAist comes from
It's probably time to mention, too, that CTG has absolutely been on a roll this season in all three venues, with three big premieres coming up in the next two months. Good news for audiences on both sides of town. Bad news for evening traffic on the 10.
"The Convert" plays every evening except Mondays, plus Saturday (except for May 12) and Sunday matinees, through May 13, with an additional Saturday night performance May 19. Tickets $20-$49.50 on the CTG website or by calling (213) 628-2772.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars. -
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
Best of LAist