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Gem of the OceanPart of The August Wilson Century CycleDateline: 11th April, 2008Set in 1904, Gem of the Ocean was written as the penultimate play in August Wilson's cycle although it commences the story. Actress Phylicia Rashad who played Aunt Ester in the original Broadway production of a play that premiered in Britain at the Tricycle sums up the magnificence of this play, almost using its own imagery, when she says, "August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean is like a great and mighty ship riding the waves of history. With sails at full mast, blown by the winds of clarity and tireless resolve, it surges onward toward its charted destination, the port of right understanding: So Live!" This is a worthy first play to launch the set and, indeed, Miss Rashad's character Aunt Ester perhaps speaks to us all when she says, "you on an adventure, Mr Citizen. I bet you didn't know that. It's all adventure. You signed up to it and you didn't even know it". Gem of the Ocean then leads us all off on an adventure that lasts through ten of the finest plays of the second half of the 20th century. The man to whom Aunt Ester spoke those words, Citizen Barlow is, as his name suggests, a representative of his people. In some ways this Everyman might be likened to Jesus but also possibly has more than a little in common with Bunyan's Pilgrim. After killing a man in Alabama, where the Black man's pay was less than the board and lodging, Barlow escaped to the north. As the play opens, he arrives at the home of a 285-year-old woman in the belief that this symbolic mother of her people is able to "wash people's sins". This canny old woman, who might well have magical powers and at the very least is a mean psychologist, knows that the only person who can expiate sins is the one who committed them and, eventually, she helps Citizen to unburden himself. While he is on his journey towards doing so, Wilson introduces us to a rich collection of personalities. Solly Two Kings is an old former slave who smuggled dozens of others to freedom. He loves Aunt Ester but discovers a journey of his own. He must travel back to the South to rescue his sister from the penalties of that hard-earned freedom and, in doing so, achieve his own internal peace. A brother and sister each have problems that they too must resolve. Black Mary yearns for love and does not know it but is destined to become the next Aunt Ester, while her brother Caesar is the archetypal sell-out who righteously preaches Christianity but believes in only one God, money. This is a marvellous play, which has mystical qualities and effortlessly crosses the boundaries between parable and magic realism to tremendous effect. Not only does it introduce its readers to a host of both memorable and colourful characters but additionally, it is deeply thought-provoking meditation on both the Black condition and matters more theological and philosophical. Gem of the Ocean is thus a fine start to what is undoubtedly an unforgettable trip through a century. Philip Fisher
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