Metro Pulse/Gamut/Amazing Grace

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What
Amazing Grace by Shay Youngblood, from the book by Mary Hoffman

When
Saturday, Jan. 27 at 2 and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m.

Where
Oak Ridge Playhouse on Jackson Square

Ticket Info
$6. Call 482-9999 for reservations.

A children's play celebrates diversity, in Oak Ridge of all places

by Adrienne Martini

Grace: Once upon a time...a loooong, loooong time ago, Nana said it was so, that the ugliest, most disgusting-looking bumpy tree frog named Gorgeous was out hunting in the forest with two of his very, very, ugly, ugly cousins Kinda-Pretty and So-So-Fine. After a while they saw a beautiful fox with curly red hair sitting by the side of the river. "Aiii! Aiii! Aiii!" the beautiful red fox cried. "I met a wizard this morning who told me that it's going to rain so hard today that my house might wash away. Please, please, please help me put a new roof on my house so that my beautiful red hair won't get messed up." And so they helped him put a roof on his house.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, really, a British writer named Mary Hoffman created a book for young people called Amazing Grace. Grace told the story of a girl, who just happens to be black, who could be whatever she believed herself to be—whether that was an explorer or Joan of Arc or Peter Pan—and was full of luscious, luminous watercolor illustrations by Caroline Binch.

A little less long ago than that, 1995, in fact, the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, decided to adapt Hoffman's book for the stage. Shay Youngblood, a grown-up black girl who became what she believed she could be, wrote the script. Youngblood was (and still is) no stranger to the writing field, having penned a slew of plays (Shakin' The Mess Out Of Misery, Black Power Barbie, and Communism Killed My Dog, for example), a collection of short stories, and two novels. Youngblood and Grace seem to have been a fine match, given that the play taps into the spirit of the original book while exploring and expanding its roots in storytelling and theme of self-determination—ideas that ride through Youngblood's work as well. Plus, Youngblood picked up on the book's devotion to ethnic and racial diversity, something that Youngblood has been devoted to celebrating.

A lot less long ago than that— say, last year sometime—Reggie Law, the Artistic Director at the Oak Ridge Playhouse, discovered Amazing Grace and decided it would be perfect for this theater's upcoming children's theater season. While it is a play that may not be as familiar to audiences as standard kids' theater fare like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or Jungle Book—two shows that are also offered this season—Grace provides a wealth of opportunities for educating and delighting audiences, opportunities that aren't as available with name-brand scripts.

But that is getting ahead of the story.

"One of the challenges," Youngblood says about writing Grace, speaking by phone from Atlanta, "was stepping outside what's on the page and bringing my own creativity to it. I read tons of stories because this is a girl who acts out different stories, so I had to create different stories for her. I looked at Native American stories, I looked at fairy tales.

"I had the opportunity to speak with Mary Hoffman a couple of times during writing the play. I wanted to keep the integrity of the piece as well. But she was very hands off. I'd call her up and ask her about Grace's father, about background information, a lot of which she hadn't thought of. And she was quite amazed when she came and saw it."

While "amazed" can mean many things—not all of them positive—Hoffman writes her own reserved (remember, she's British) praise of this show: "It was a proud moment," she says of the opening night ovation she received, "but I feel the praise must be shared with the highly talented team who put the production together and mostly with Shay Youngblood, whose fine version you will find here."

Youngblood's script captures Hoffman's story and fills in around the edges, with additional stories told by Grace and her Trinidadian Nana and Ma. The original production also tapped into Binch's limpid paintings.

"In Minneapolis," Youngblood says, "it looked exactly as if you were turning the pages in the book."

But the versatility of the show lies with the fact that it can also be produced without elaborate technical frills. "I went to Providence, Rhode Island, and saw an all-children's production that was really fabulous," Youngblood continues. "It was in an auditorium and it just had a sheet as a backdrop, with scenes from the play. It looked like they were having so much fun. And I wrote it that way. I had so much fun writing it and was so happy to see the kids really playing, and having a good time with it."

Grace: Soon, they could all hear the sound of the big storm coming. Thunder roll. Lightening flash. And the rain start to come down hard, hard, hard. The beautiful red fox quick as lightening locked himself inside his house. He didn't even thank the three frogs for helping him, he just laughed, "Hi, hi, hi," and said they were too ugly to come into his house. Gorgeous, Kinda-Pretty and So-So-Fine were enchanted frogs so they put a spell on the beautiful red fox and turned him into an ugly, disgusting-looking, bumpy tree frog just like them. Poof!

According to Law, the Oak Ridge kids are having a great time with Grace. Fortunately, the cast's enjoyment of the piece hasn't really been an issue. Casting it was.

Youngblood's script calls for 6 girls and 4 boys, specifications that ordinarily wouldn't have been a problem. But the script gets yet more specific, suggesting the racial make-up of the cast, ranging from Asian to Hispanic to Native American to Indian and all points in between. While this diversity was a large part of what drove Law to pick this script, casting the show in, say, Minneapolis, is a bit different than finding kids in, say, Oak Ridge.

"There were definitely some limitations," Law, an African American, says with a laugh. "I wasn't able to cast the show as the script intended—we simply don't have that kind of diversity in the area to start with, let alone to find people who can actually be onstage. I have some children who are black, I have some children who are of mixed-race, some who are Hispanic, and so on and so forth. I have quite a mix of people onstage—but it's not quite the mix that was intended by the script. But I think, because of what the script has to say, it gives you the freedom to do that."

"I have a few kids in there who are younger than what we often use," he continues, "so there's just a lot of teaching how to be onstage going on, which is good because it's something they need to learn anyway. Rehearsal is going a little slower than I would have hoped, but I think we're going to be in good shape. We're going to be fine. And I think the kids are having a good time and learning a lot."

Law, who has directed shows for a variety of companies, including Dollywood and the Bijou, (and who can be seen in an HGTV promotional spot) had some goals in mind when he assumed the artistic director position at Oak Ridge last year.

"Part of what my plan was when I took over the job here at the Playhouse was to bring some diversity to our productions and to therefore, hopefully, bring some diversity to our audiences as well. So I had been looking for plays that involved leading characters who were minority roles," he says.

"The good thing about this play is that it in turn celebrates the diversity of all nationalities. It's not just a play about a little black girl; it's also multi-cultural. I think it can open up a lot of windows to young people and show them all of the opportunities they really have before them."

Which was one of Youngblood's reasons for writing it in the first place. "When you live in a small community, you feel that your world is very tiny. But it is great big and large and that's what I want to convey in my work, too. In the sense of magic everywhere, and hopefulness, too," she says.

"I think that theater and stories make people feel alive, make people feel not so alone," Youngblood continues. "It brings the community together. You get people in a room, live people with other live people, and there's this interaction that happens. It's about change for me. And that you can do anything that your mind can sort of envision."

Learning how to do theater, however, doesn't always come easily, even if you are a well-adjusted (albeit fictional) child like Grace. And part of this production has been about teaching the cast what it means to be in a show, and about illustrating the fact that even good stories require some work to tell.

"I enjoy opening their minds to theatrical concepts and things like that, although they may not always get them," Law says. "At least the seed is planted. Five years from now someone may say a similar thing and they go 'Oh, that's what he was talking about.'

"And I enjoy watching them discover that there's more to acting than just learning your lines and saying them really loud and smiling real big. Some of them are getting it and some of them aren't—but that happens," he adds with a laugh.

As for Grace the show, it should be a wonderful experience—regardless of how many kids get this whole acting thing—and one that reminds every audience member of the importance of believing that your dreams, while they'll probably require some work on your part, can honestly come true. And that is indeed what has happened for the show's adapter.

"When I was younger, I thought that if I could have anything in the world—just that secret dream that you have that you never tell anybody—I wanted to read books and travel," Youngblood confesses. She'll be adding a trip to Knoxville in the near future when she comes to town at the beginning of March for the Melus Conference—the theme this year is "taking stock of multi-ethnic literatures"—hosted by Knoxville College. "I had no idea that is exactly what I would be doing. I've been a full-time writer for the last two years. And it's been really wonderful and exciting."

Grace: Like Nana say: When you hear someone calling your name...you must remember to look inside their heart....to see how beautiful they are.

And that was the end of that.