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Telling stories on Zora, the storyteller
By MICHAEL CANNING
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 1, 2001
It shouldn't be surprising that one of the leading black writers of the 20th century, and a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance, had such stirring parental inspiration. Factor in a unique, discrimination-free upbringing in an all-black Florida town, and it also should not be surprising that Hurston led a life interesting enough for a play.
Zora Neale Hurston, A Theatrical Biography opens tonight at 8 p.m. at the Tampa Performing Arts Center's Shimberg Playhouse.
Thought to have been born around 1900, Hurston grew up in Eatonville, a small town near Orlando believed to be the country's first all-black town to incorporate (in 1887). An irrepressible character with a gift for storytelling, she became as a prolific documenter of Southern and Caribbean folklore, as well as a successful writer.
"She's absolutely fascinating," said play director Wendy Leigh. "Not only is she a fully gifted artist and writer, but she was very forward thinking for her time, she was a feminist . . . and she had one of the most unique perspectives on race."
Leigh added that Hurston's racially homogeneous upbringing gave her an outlook that many blacks of her day couldn't share. "She grew up not knowing prejudice, really. She always felt it was a gift being born black, and never had any self-pity."
The play is one act, one set (a New York City bus station circa 1949), with only two players. Melanna Gray, who stars as Hurston, never leaves the stage. The other actor, ranney, portrays four important male figures in Hurston's life: major Harlem Renaissance literary figures Langston Hughes, Alain Locke and Richard Wright, and her first husband, Herbert Sheen.
Could this be Gray's most demanding role to date? "Absolutely. It's pulling everything I learned in undergrad and graduate (school) out of me," said Gray, who has acting and directing degrees from the University of Southern California and the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Portraying a person who herself was so adept at mimicking other characters adds to the complexity of the role. "She knew every story and every song that was told on every porch in the South, basically," said Leigh. "She was an expert mimic."
Plus, says Gray, "I feel the obligation to tell as much of her story as I can, even though the script doesn't allow it sometimes."
Leigh added that much of the play, which was written by Laurence Holder, deals with the Harlem Renaissance, "because that was her heyday," and also includes readings from her books Their Eyes Were Watching God, Jonah's Gourd Vine and her article Crazy for this Democracy.
Michael Canning can be reached at (813) 226-3408, or at canning@sptimes.com.
PREVIEW
Zora Neale Hurston, A Theatrical Biography, 8 p.m. today, running through March 18, at the Shimberg Playhouse of Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa. Tickets are $15.50-$21.50. Call (813) 229-7827.
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