At the start of Act II of the EttaGrace Black Theatre’s emotionally satisfying production of "Miss Evers’ Boys," making its regional debut at the Grand Theatre, nurse Evers (Latoya Rhodes) stands center stage in a golden pool of light.
Separately spotlighted to her right, prizewinning young dancer Willie (Sean J. Carter) struggles to practice steps on a leg he is swiftly losing to syphilis. Isolated in their own light to her left are the two doctors — one black (Brien Jones) and one white (Jeffrey Owen) — directing the Tuskegee study targeting black Alabama sharecroppers with "bad blood."
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Review: ‘Miss Evers’ Boys’
Powerful production of “Miss Evers’ Boys” showcases the emerging talents of a promising new African American theater company while depicting the injustice that racial minorities often face.
When » Reviewed Thursday, Feb. 2; continues Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. through Feb. 18, with 1 p.m. matinees on Saturday, Feb. 4 and 11. A discussion on medical ethics with University of Utah’s Dr. Jeffrey Botkin follows the Feb. 11 matinee.
Where » Grand Theatre, Salt Lake Community College South campus, 1575 S. State St., Salt Lake City
Tickets » $10-$24 (discounts for seniors/students/groups); 801-957-3322, www.the-grand.org.
Running time » Two hours and 45 minutes (including an intermission)
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The moment poignantly portrays the dilemma of a compassionate woman caught between her dedication to her profession — "I promised before God to devote myself to the welfare of my patients" — and the machinations of a government health care system. A system that is more interested in research than the needs of the human beings it was designed to serve, especially if those people are poor, black and powerless. "If you want to walk where I walk, you’ve gotta be walking that messy middle ground," Miss Evers says later in her testimony before a Senate investigating committee.
David Feldshuh’s play is based on the true story of a study that followed the debilitating effects of syphilis among a group of back men from 1932 to 1972, first promising them treatment and then denying them the miracle drug penicillin so that it could document the impact of the disease all the way to the "end point" of their deaths. Ironically, one of the study’s goals was to prove that syphilis affects both black and white races the same way.
Far from a clinical study, "Miss Evers’ Boys" explores the close relationship that developed among four of the men and the nurse who devoted herself to caring for them and was then forced to pretend to continue after government funding for treatment dried up.
The play, and the actors who portray the characters, do a fine job individualizing the four men and capturing the camaraderie that links them to each other and their nurse. There’s the ebullient, energetic Willie, whose aspiration is to dance at Harlem’s Cotton Club; the articulate, angry Caleb (Lonzo Liggins), who wants to become a preacher; the superstitious Hodman (Ricardo Eugene), who puts his faith only in nature’s medicines; and the sweet, trusting Ben (Gregory Lang), who never wavers in his belief and love for Miss Evers. Although lines are sometimes lost on the Grand’s cavernous stage, the emotional ties among the four are consistently clear and touching.
Rhodes adeptly balances the conflicting pull between loyalty and loss that Evers experiences as she desperately tries to save her patients. Owen’s cooly calculating Dr. Douglas nicely counterpoints Jones’ well-intentioned but trapped Dr. Brodus.
Toni Bird’s direction occasionally lags, but she unfailingly navigates the play’s emotional arc and creates some powerful moments with the help of Spencer Brown’s moody and responsive lighting. Janet Grey’s lively choreography and Kevin Mathie’s mix of traditional and original music re-create the feel of the Depression-era South.
"Miss Evers’ Boys" manages simultaneously to chronicle the way that government and society callously exploit some of their most vulnerable citizens while depicting the redeeming love and care that individual human beings are capable of in compensating for it.
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