Alice Walker, feminist and activist, was the first African-American woman to receive a Pulitzer Prize for her novel. Published in 1982, it sold over four million copies. Steven Spielberg made it into a film. Marsha Norman turned it into a Broadway musical which is never as bleak as its subject matter: black men treating their women appallingly in the segregated Deep South between the wars. The music and lyrics are by Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray. The show opened in 2005 and was nominated for ten awards and ran for more than 900 performances.
Celie, a 14-year-old, is raped by her step-father and gives birth to a baby, who is taken away from her. She is then married off to a man who regularly beats her and treats her like his slave. He steals all the letters sent by the sister she loves and whom she believes to be dead. But Celie, totally without sentimentality, and surprisingly tough, is a survivor. “I may be poor, black an ugly,” she says, “but I’m here!” Cynthia Erivo acts and sings with considerable power. There is a talented cast. Christopher Colquhoun is her brutal husband and Nicola Hughes is his mistress, a sexy lady who knows how to belt out a number and whom Celie befriends. Adebayo Bolaji is the husband’s decent son.
John Doyle’s spare and lively production, with the audience sitting on three sides of the stage, blazes with energy. The singing is everything; and the feel-good mixture of gospel, soul, jazz and Motown make for a sparkling evening’s entertainment in which the women come out on top and wearing the trousers.