Fireflies
by Donja R. Love
Directed by Andrea Frye
The Black Rep
February 12, 2022
Zahria Moore, Eric Conners
Photo by Phillip Hamer
The Black Rep
Fireflies, the latest production from the Black Rep, is a relatively short play, but a lot happens in its 90-minute running time. It’s an insightful character study as well as a look at an important and volatile time in history from a personal perspective. There’s a lot covered in terms of subject matter, as we look at this two character play that centers on a married couple in the midst of their times and various personal revelations. On stage at Wash U’s Hotchner Studio Theatre and featuring two stellar performances, it may only be one act, but it’s an intense one.
The action is confined to Dunsi Dai’s impressively detailed unit set and illuminated by Sean Savoie’s outstanding lighting that gives the play an almost otherworldly effect at times, although the action is grounded in its sense of authenticity. The characters here are a married couple involved in the Civil Rights movement, and the program describes the setting as “somewhere down South, where the sky is on fire”. That fire is both literal and figurative, as Olivia (Zahria Moore) worries about the real threats and violence that consumes the American South, most recently represented by the well-known church bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham that killed four young Black girls. Olivia’s husband Charles (Eric Conners) is an activist and preacher who has been speaking at the site, and returns home to find Olivia unsettled. Olivia, who is increasingly and understandably upset by the growing tension and violence, sees and hears visions of bombs in her head, which cause her pain and add to her general sense of doom and fear about the state of the world around her. She’s pregnant, which makes Charles happy, but Olivia is increasingly reluctant to bring a child into the world as it is, considering the racially motivated hatred, discrimination, and violence in the world, which also are a particular threat to Charles considering his high-profile role in the movement and his frequent traveling to speaking engagements. Over the course of the play, we learn more about these two people, as Olivia’s sense of foreboding, and thinly-veiled distrust of Charles as a husband, become more apparent, as do Charles’s controlling tendencies and the general state of their relationship. Both partners have secrets that will be revealed to one another and to the audience, as both their personal lives and the outside world grow more and more uncertain.
I’m not going to go into much detail about what happens, because the experience of the play and the unfolding of the events are what drive the drama. I will say, though, that it’s a highly personal story as well as one that reflects a brutal reality of living in uncertain and violent times driven by hatred, racism, and fear. Personal issues of distrust, betrayal, gender roles, and questioning of identity in various ways are dealt with along with the larger, world-impacting issues of the day. Also, even though this play is set in 1963, many of its issues are just as applicable today. It’s a well-realized story with well-drawn characters, brought to life in a the stunning production values that also include detailed costumes by Ellen Minch, and well-paced direction by Andrea Frye.
The characters make the story here, and they are not only well-written, but are brought to life with vivid intensity by two excellent performers. Moore is impressive in portraying such a complex, multi-layered character as Olivia, who has one kind of life on the surface, but so much inside that she’s tried not to reveal. Moore’s portrayal of this strong but conflicted character packs a lot of emotional power, and her interactions with the also excellent Conners as the demanding but charismatic Charles are intensely charged and meaningful. Both performers rise to the challenge of this heavy, sometimes volatile story as the characters embody so much of the tension and meaning.
Fireflies is another example of dramatic excellence from a consistently first-rate theatre company. The Black Rep is continuing their season with a thought-provoking, highly emotional work that’s sure to have audiences thinking. It’s vividly realized, unsettling at times, confrontational and emotionally challenging, and ultimately well worth seeing.
Eric Conners, Zahria Moore
Photo by Phillip Hamer
The Black Rep
The Black Rep is presenting Fireflies at Washington University’s A. E. Hotchner Studio Theatre until March 6, 2022