“˜King Hedley II’ fails to stand on its own merits

  Mark Taper Forum Lou Myers stars in
August Wilson’s "King Hedley II," which is directed by Marion
McClinton.

By Alicia Cheak
Daily Bruin Contributor

The idea of a cycle of plays chronicling the African American
experience across each decade of the 20th century has the markings
and length, of an historical epic. 

Having embarked on this venture some 12 years ago, Pulitzer
Prize winning playwright August Wilson is two plays shy of
completing the cycle.  His eighth offering, “King Hedley
II, is set in the 1980s and is, by far, the most apocalyptic in
outlook. “Hedley” plays at the Mark Taper Forum until
Oct. 22.

The story is set in Pittsburgh’s Hill District in 1985, a
time of economic hardships. With decreasing federal support
and readily available cocaine, communities were fast on the decline
and by mid-1980s took the form of anarchic war zones.

Urban neighborhoods once run down yet thriving in the 1970s were
nothing more than ghost towns by the 1980s. Those who remained in
the city suffer a holocaust of spirit for themselves and their
communities. It is under these conditions that we first meet King
Hedley.

  Mark Taper Forum Charles Brown and
Harry Lennix take a seat in "King Hedley II," the
opening production of the 2000-2001 season at the Mark Taper Forum.
Hedley is an ex-con who is hastening to meet the quota for selling
washing machines before the supply moves out of town. It is a shady
undertaking ““ the merchandise is kept in an undisclosed place
until an arrangement can be made and payment received in the amount
of approximately $200 for its purchase.

King Hedley is faced with a moral dilemma. He has aspirations of
a legitimate business, a video store. A pool of money has been set
aside for the store, but his pal Mister, who plays the tempter and
instigator role, is eager for his share in order to salvage his own
flagging furniture business.

In desperation, Mister offers a jewelry heist as a quick and
dirty solution. Tired of his irresponsible and reckless ways,
Hedley’s wife, Tonya, threatens to abort their unborn child
when faced with the prospect of raising a child in the current
social and economic environment.

Decisions have to be made.  Should Hedley rob the jewelry
store and risk incarceration for the sake of improving the lives of
his expectant wife and unborn child?

Is this avenue for self-gain justified, given a larger society
that shows neither concern nor offers any assistance to alleviate
his hardships? Despite his intentions for a better life, failure
seems inevitable.

How can one look beyond the wasteland of one’s existence,
beyond a life of death, sirens and alley cats- suggesting life, and
at the same time a lack of it where the parched loose soil on which
one lives is not even fit for growing things?

All this, coupled to Wilson’s flare for poetic language,
is set up to create high drama.

And, indeed, Harry Lennix puts in a solid performance as King
Hedley, portraying him as a man embittered through experience.
Despite his mostly solitary anger, however, which brims over ever
more frequently as the play progresses, Hedley can be quite
jocular, especially in his interactions with Mister, played by
Monté Russell.

Perhaps the humor and absurdity interspersed throughout the
characters are necessary defenses against the heavy-handed themes
of the play. Another poignant performance comes form Moné
Walton, who plays Tonya, the most compassionate and hopeful of the
lot of characters.

She adds impetus to a play that is driven largely by long
monologues. These monologues, though poet, can be rather tedious
especially in the second act. 

Rounding out the cast is Hedley’s self-absorbed mother,
Ruby, played with the typical exactingness of mothers by Juanita
Jennings, and her slick lover Elmore, played adequately, although
at times insincerely, by Charles Brown.

Perhaps the most entertaining of the lot is Lou Myers’
Stool Pigeon, Hedley’s eccentric neighbor. Stool Pigeon is
the local prophet of reckoning, who feeds and buries stray cats,
Along with the semblance of death which surrounds him, Stool Pigeon
keeps up with the times by collecting newspapers by the bushel.

However, despite generally strong performances by an intimate
cast of six and the lyricism of the various monologues, the play
lacks the coherence and cogency of Wilson’s earlier
works.

It falls short and is almost trying at times, in its attempt to
deliver the disillusionment and subsequent rage of the lead
character. Not withstanding, attempts to forestall judgment and to
experience the entire piece as a whole, in hopes of a worthwhile
end, are amiss.

Although King Hedley is rich with themes and symbolism, delving
into issues of family, identity and responsibility amidst a
merciless environment of crime and poverty, the numerous monologues
situate the play in the past rather than the present.

The highly sentimental overtones overshadow the urgency and
force of the dilemma. One has the feeling of looking upon a scene
or moment, as if it were an historic exhibit, rather than fully
engaging in it.

And it is rather disconcerting when the author abandons the
languid pace that dominates the better part of three hours to bring
the story to a climactic and rather brisk end.

The lack of significant interaction among the characters is
disturbing as well, for each seems to perform on a stage of their
own. Even the position of the characters, with one speaking and the
rest, when present, standing by, unobtrusive and listening, works
to create a distance not only among the characters and also between
the cast and the audience.

As such, it is often easy to drift in and out of interest for
the characters and as such, to disengage from the story.

But perhaps full appreciation of the play comes not only with an
understanding of the context in which it takes places, that is the
1980s, but also through having experienced some of Wilson’s
earlier pieces. Indeed “KingHedley II” does not exist
as a separate piece, but is connected to the earlier works. In the
absence of either, the play on its own is rather uneventful and
nothing extraordinary.

“King Hedley II” plays like an urban tragedy and has
all the ingredients for being so. Although rich in material, it
does not hold its own ground.

Individual moments may be affecting and enjoyable, but the lack
of any substantial interaction among the characters and the
oftentimes cumbersome monologues prevent a cohesive whole. The
allusions to previous works and ideas may bode well for Wilson
aficionados; for others, it may be less than satisfying.

THEATER: King Hedley II by August Wilson plays at the Mark Taper
Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.  Sept. 5-Oct. 22.
Tuesday-Sunday, 7:30 p.m; Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are
$30-44. For more information, call (213) 628-2772.