Gee is for Grievous

Gee's Bend

by David Anthony Fox

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Gee's Bend — the play by Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, based on the lives of real women quilters from a town in Alabama — runs at the Arden concurrently with an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art of some of the quilts themselves. You really must see the exhibit, which includes pieces that are simply extraordinary.

Though the quilts used in the production are attractive, they're far from extraordinary. It's the same with Wilder's play itself: Though skillfully performed and sometimes touching, Gee's Bend takes thrilling history and makes it heavy-handed theater.

I know I'm treading on dangerous ground here — but hear me out, please. The quilts aren't really the central theme of Wilder's play, which is at least as much about life in a poor African-American community in Alabama, civil rights, grievous injustice (not just governmental, but personal injustice, too) and the ultimate recognition and celebration of women's identity in the face of overwhelming odds.

All fine, worthy topics — and, sadly, still relevant. (The day before I saw Gee's Bend, some particularly nefarious stunts in the presidential race made it clear that bigotry and the potential to have one's voting rights denied are very much with us today.) But here, the treatment is iconic and sweeping. There are too many obvious metaphors — quilting, crossing the river — and too much one-dimensional character writing. The best scenes depict a relationship (between Sadie, the principal quilter, and her husband, Macon) that is detailed and personal. But when Wilder introduces The Big Themes, Gee's Bend becomes less a play than a civics lesson, and feels as museum-bound as the quilts themselves. (I'll dig myself in deeper here and say that I found the sung interludes not especially effective, despite some good voices. This now-common device has become a cliché.)

Mine may be the minority view, of course. Sunday's matinee audience was appreciative. The story and historical context of Gee's Bend is a lesson we should never forget. But I wish the play itself didn't seem so much like a lesson.

(d_fox@citypaper.net)

Gee's Bend | Through Dec. 7, Arden Theatre Co., 40 N. Second St., 215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org.