When George C. Wolfe's "Spunk" was first staged at New York's Public Theater in 1990, it was greeted as a kind of rediscovery of the fiction of Zora Neale Hurston, the author of the 1937 novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," who fell out of popular favor and died in poverty in 1960.
In the 21 years between that premiere and that current revival of "Spunk" at Court Theatre, the importance of Hurston as an observer of African-American life and a poet of its soul has only been further cemented. There might not be the same Harlem Renaissance feelings about "Spunk," but there are still plenty of Hurston pleasures in the play.
There are three of her stories in the aptly named "Spunk" — a word that captures Hurston's essential chutzpah and love for political incorrectness even before that restricting term had been coined. In "Sweat," we see the picture of a troubled marriage, a washerwoman tied to both dirty laundry and an abusive husband. That's followed by the short "Story in Harlem Slang," a piece about a couple of Uptown hustlers doing their thing to the best of their considerable abilities. After intermission, we get "The Gilded Six-Bits," the most involving of this trio and yet another picture of the complexities of a marriage in which only one of the parties fully appreciates the basic rules of the s union.
Court's production, which was directed by Seret Scott and makes use of the original 1990 music by Chic Street Man, is a very relaxed affair. You might find that it's a bit too relaxed and casual, a bit too visually loose and neutral, especially if you see Hurston's sense of humor and flourish as only the outer coverings for stories about great human pain, love and resilience.
One wishes for a few more sharp edges. When the mellow vibe is cut, the surface of the show peels back and you suddenly are aware of the high stakes that beset these, and any, human lives. And like many conceptual shows where the original staging and the actual text were linked and developed together, there are moments here when it feels like the Court cast members don't fully own everything they are doing.
Still, the evening trips along in a very chilled and enjoyable fashion, with the second act landing with the most honesty and humanity. As the blues singer with the job of linking these tales together, Alexis J. Rogers adds glamour and charm to the cool-cat guitar playing of Kelvyn Bell. Michael Pogue zoots his way through Hurston's most comedic impulses; Kenn E. Head seems most in tune with her enigmas; and the excellent Patrese McClain and Chris Boykin jointly carry the load of this writer's irrepressible sexuality and moral conscience. In the Hurston world, you cannot separate the one from the other.
I'd just say the "Spunk" quotient could do to rise a few more beats on the Hyde Park dial — Hurston was funny and accessible but also uncompromising in every last way. That's why it took a while for people to understand all she saw and meant.
Twitter@ChrisJonesTrib
When: Through Oct. 9
Where: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.
Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
Tickets: $40-$60 at 773-753-4472 or courttheatre.org
