By Shannon Milliman
In Tuscumbia, Alabama, The Ritz Theatre‘s production of Daryl Liza Fazio‘s Split in Three at The Commons features a firecracker cast and crew who profoundly agitate historical recollections of the segregation era. It explores the nuanced stories of white, Southern sisters and neighbors longing for purpose and unity in the Mississippi Delta during the 1968 Supreme Court ruling that allowed blacks and whites to attend integrated schools. Fazio’s fresh, powerful play debuted in 2006 at Truman State University and was the 2007 winner at the prestigious Eudora Welty New Plays Festival and continues to engage audiences while inspiring them to see the complexity of place, paternity and race in refreshed interpretations. Fazio’s fiercely gifted writing generates intense, beautiful, artistic dialogue in a story that translates characters who some could wrongly dismiss as small-town people with simplistic lives and elevates them to complicated, triumphant, wounded and flawed beings who are doing the best they can with the wisdom they have. Any person who feels liberated by the presence of perfect imperfection and the power of graceful language will enjoy the way The Ritz Theatre brings this script to abundant life on a southern night in a field of green. Attending this play I am left with complicated emotions; with the realization that racism in the late 60’s and early 70’s churns overt, harsh and horrible. It was made clear that being on the “right side” is only as good as the actions that back up a person’s beliefs and that family doesn’t necessarily mean understanding. It highlights that growth and change are possible as the players prompt the audience to be more curious, compassionate and forgiving while observing the characters’ insights, misgivings and observations. This play causes one to consider what it is that makes one person want to help another and the long-standing harm that eats away at souls when they do not help members of their community.
This play follows two poor, Southern sisters: gentle, conflicted Nell Parsons Cobb (Lucy LeMaster Hill) and and spunky, Nola Parsons (LesLee Anne Gavin). Their mother has died and their father has abandoned them. The father is present only in memories and reputation and stands as a metaphor for desire, wanderlust and in a painful world, and who has left behind good and bad in his offspring. It is a story of their becoming and learning that family is more than the shape of hymn book praises. The salt sprinkling of cultural color and exploration of people’s deep connection to place finds humor in the unexpected surprises and a plot twist that forces the sisters to reevaluate their expectations of a black woman’s intelligence and role in society.
Hill gives a grand performance and her deep ability to connect with each cast member in an authentic, passionate manner makes her memorable, relatable, and muse-like.
Gavin’s depiction of Nola is evocative and sees beyond the superficial. Her compassionate and nurturing sensitivity endears her to the audience and I was personally reminded of someone in my life who also longs to fill the empty voids in her life.
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Harper’s bold, bright costuming enunciates her initial obvious differences to the cast and she has an ability to subtly impact a scene with incredible stage presence and graceful body language. Harper brings Penny to life like a resurrection and with brilliant curiosity, Harper inspires the audience to question why family never accepts simple answers.
Tucker Tackett (Cory Buffaloe) steals the show in the best way possible with a conviction that resonated like a gavel strike in a courtroom. Buffaloe’s character highlights the common man who tries and comes up short, but is salt of the earth and good inside even when he seems to be bad on the outside. Buffaloe brings the house down with his vocal variety, depth of emotion and his comic bumbling.
This resonant play is tight, sealed and delivered by an incredible production crew who are aware of details so the audience does not have to be. Director Stephanie Vickers and Assistant Director/Stage Manager Jeanne Baughman have led a cast in times of COVID-19 to a place where the audience, with relief, did not have to remember the struggles of the past year. It enabled them to slip away into the wonderful, imaginary story in southern Mississippi. Victoria McCoy’s costume design presents color that enhances the warm, connected feel of the story. Set constructors Keith McMurtney and Jonathan Cain create an impact with creative, simple choices that leave room for interpretation, re-invention and reclamation. The black frame doors seem like portals into mind, memory and history. Sound Operator Keith McMurtrey seamlessly uses radio and music interludes to artfully transport the audience to another world. The crew, working together, has created a thing of beauty. The outdoor backdrop and the natural neighborhood noises were elegantly considered by the crew and actually enhanced the feeling of reality for the story and characters.
The best thing you can do with your time this May is see Split In Three. It will change you forever and will humble, challenge, and push you while making you want to be a little better. I noticed other play goers linger, exchange conversation with those they came with about how they were considering their lives differently. Because of this story, great acting, superb talent, I am renewed and redirected and am considering my own relationships with others in a new, more hopeful way. If audiences allow themselves to experience it in their fountain of life and take the opportunity to avoid ignorance, they will find that this show is refreshing, rejuvenating and will restore to them something they didn’t know was lost. This show is extraordinary for families of all ages (with acknowledgement of heavy, intense race and family topics) and is one that should not be missed.
The Ritz Theatre presents Split In Three; by Daryl Lisa Fazio
The Commons, 511 N Water St, Tuscumbia, AL 35674
May 15-23, 2021, 2:00 PM on Saturday-Sunday.
Tickets: $15
Contact: 256-383-0533
www.tennesseevalleyarts.org
The Ritz Theatre Facebook Page
Split in Three Facebook Event
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