Lee Blessing's play, Going to St. Ives, is memorable from the beginning. As the stage lights come up on a quaint and orderly English drawing room, one finds the imposing figure of a gorgeously dressed African woman. She is clad head to toe in an extremely colorful and regal garment that is patterned with a bold African design. She also wears a large gold necklace and gold-colored slippers. She stands alone, waiting for her host to arrive. What caused this odd combination?
That's only one of the puzzles in Going to St. Ives. The play brings together two very powerful women who live in distinctly different worlds. The African woman, Mae N'Kame, is an empress in her native (unnamed) African country. She has come to England for an eye operation. She wants to meet the surgeon beforehand, and therefore winds up in Dr. Cora Gage's drawing room. Dr. Gage is an internationally known expert in the type of surgery needed by N'Kame. She soon learns that N'Kame was educated in England before returning to her native country. This puts Dr. Gage at somewhat of a disadvantage, since her guest is wise to English customs and manners.
Dr. Gage is noticeably jittery throughout their icily polite introductions. She is aware that four African doctors have been condemned for refusing to inflict government-dictated torture. She wonders aloud if N'Kame can free the doctors? Of course she can, but there's a high price to be paid for the favor. Not a monetary price, but one that challenges Dr. Gage's deepest beliefs.
Director Mary MacDonald Kerr does a terrific job of driving home the clash of two cultures. It is perhaps most evident when Dr. Gage makes a spiritual reference to God. "What do you mean?" retorts N.Kame. "My son IS God."
As N'Kame, Ora Jones practically blows the roof off the theater. She is spectacular in every respect. She inhabits her character so fully that one cannot imagine her as an actor at all. (In fact, she's a member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater Company.) As directed by Mary MacDonald Kerr, Jones is completely in command of her performance. Whether she's balancing a delicate bone china teacup or erupting in a full-blown fury, Jones is riveting. It's quite a challenge for actor Laura Gordon (as Dr. Gage) to keep up with her mesmerizing co-star. Gordon, also an accomplished actress and director, is less convincing as a world-renowned surgeon. It's not clear why she falls short. Perhaps she needs a lesson in "bedside manners" to humanize her character. She makes Dr. Gage brittle and unsympathetic, to the point that when she reveals that she has been abandoned by her husband and also left her medical practice, it doesn't pack the necessary emotional punch. This is a slight disappointment in an otherwise outstanding production.
Playwright Blessing (A Walk in the Woods, Eleemosynary) has a keen knack for dialogue and a firm grasp on a play's natural rhythms. In Going to St. Ives, he inserts occasional humor to break up the continuing conflict between the two women. Most of all, he demonstrates that one person CAN make a difference in benefiting the lives of others.
This is a not-to-be-missed show one that will have audiences talking about for weeks to come. The intimate Next Act Theater is beautifully transformed into an exquisite replica of an English drawing room, with dark wood and Wedgewood blue walls. A china tea set is neatly arranged on a side table between two chairs. The company is known for its occasional sparse sets, and it's nice to see the "whole enchilada" for a change.
The African set, which is seen in Act II, is not quite as elaborate. But it fits the bill in visually reinforcing the different worlds inhabited by these two women.
