Crumbs from the Table of Joy

Crumbs from the Table of Joy

Lyric Stage Boston

January 10 to February 2, 2025

Madison Margaret Clark as Ernestine. Photo by Mark S. Howard

The phrase, ‘crumbs from the table of joy” comes from the 1947 Langston Hughes poem, “Luck.” It’s a perfect title for this memory play of shy, 17-year-old Ernestine Crump, a talented Black girl, transplanted from the South to 1950’s Brooklyn with her father and sister after her mother’s death. Her father Godfrey’s grief is ameliorated by the teachings of Father Divine, an influential Black minister of the era who advocated an assimilationist path to equality by advocating integration while operating through the system.

This somber domestic trio is stirred up by the arrival of Lily Ann Green, Ernestine’s mother’s sister, a curvaceous babe and radical communist who moved North to Harlem years ago. Lily seethes with life and secrets, including ones that involve Godfrey. She’s coy, but her intentions are clear—to get back into Godfrey’s heart, or at least his bed—until Godfrey up and marries a white woman. A German immigrant to boot!

Tomika Marie Birdwell and Dominic Carter. Photo by Mark. S. Howard

Lyric delivers a very credible production of this not very great play. Nevertheless, there are two notable reasons to see Crumbs from the Table of Joy.

First, the depiction of 1950’s Brooklyn is poignant. It’s a place where Blacks come north for opportunity, communists loiter to escape attention, and German immigrants suffer in the long and very recent shadow of the Nazi’s. A melting pot of opportunity and suspicion.

The second reason to see Crumbs from the Table of Joy is for serious students of theater to gain insight into playwright Lynn Nottage’s creative arc. Crumbs is Ms. Nottage’s first major play, first produced in 1995. Since then she has developed a working method that involves literally inhabiting the places and people from which she draws her drama. She’s also won two Pulitzer Prizes. Crumbs from the Table of Joy is a checkered piece of work: the monologues are stilted; the marriage plot is forced; as are the stage comings and goings. Nevertheless, the roots are greatness are present in the depth of issues that the play tackles with both grace and insight.

This is a play about how an impressionable young woman is formed into a force for our world. How much of the main character is actually Lynn Nottage is not for us to know; a good measure to be sure. Don’t go see Crumbs from the Table of Joy expecting a great play. Go because it is a resonant harbinger of so much creative genius to follow.

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Published on January 15, 2025 16:00
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