CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY
Presented by Miami University
Feb. 26-March 2
Oxford
Directed by Paul K. Bryant-Jackson
Cast: Day Robinson as Ernestine Crump, Jaime Coaker as Ermina Crump, Vonzell Carter as Godfrey Crump, Ashley Dunn as Lily Ann Green & Lizzie Docel as Gerte Crump
The date is 1950 in Brooklyn, New York, a time where racial tensions in the U.S. are on the verge of spilling over. America is dealing with the after effects of World War II, the start of the Cold War, and is bracing itself for the Civil Rights movement. It truly is a time of change, something that is familiar with the Crump household. Crumbs is a memory play told through Ernestine, a seventeen year old, African American young woman whose family is dealing with their own realities of change. Reeling off of the loss of his wife, Godfrey Crump, Ernestine’s father, is left with the sole responsibility of raising his two maturing daughters. He finds peace in a televangelist named “Father Divine,” and moves his family from the south and customs of Florida to Brooklyn to follow his teachings. Adjusting to this culture shift, Ernestine and her younger sister, Ermina, seek to find their own way of coping. For Ernestine, her solace is to escape in the actresses she saw in the movies, and for Ermina, the attention of young boys. Laced with communist notions, and talks about the Black revolution, Aunt Lily, the sister to Ernestine’s mother, shakes up the conservative world that Godfrey desired to create by moving in with the family. Her aim is to mother her young nieces, and to release them of their father’s teachings. The tension between free thought, and conservative views proves to be too much for Godfrey, and he again runs away to find solace; this time without his girls. While away, he meets a German woman named Gerte, who he falls in love with and decides to marry. He returns home with his new wife, and his daughters must then grapple with the idea of having a German stepmother. Gerte and Godfrey’s relationship is challenged, as they are victims to the cruel world of racism. Can the family truly “cope” this time and how?
- Wed-Sat, Feb. 26-March 1 at 7:30pm
- Sun, March 2 at 2pm
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