Something Old, Something New…

Familiar – Steppenwolf Theater

Danai Gurira’s most recent play, Familiar, gets its Chicago premiere at the Steppenwolf Theater this month. Most people will recognize Gurira from her roles in The Walking Dead or Black Panther. She also wrote the critically-acclaimed Eclipsed, which recently had a Chicago run at Chicago Dramatists. She was born in the US to Zimbabwean parents and was raised in Zimbabwe after her parents returned when she was five. Familiar focuses on the story of a family of Zimbabwean immigrants living in Minnesota, on the occasion of their elder daughter Tendikayi’’s wedding. In many ways, this has a lot in common with any number of other works that focus on an immigrant family assembling for a wedding. There is the clash of culture and generations leading to either increasingly hilarious misunderstandings or increasingly tense revelations, depending on the tone. Familiar is a bit of both, but is anchored by the finely-textured and specific detail informed by Gurira’s personal experience. The finished product will be both recognizable to audience members from across an array of immigrant experiences, but also unique and informative about the world this particular family comes from.

The family dynamics are depicted with a light but expert hand. A lesser story would have painted in broader strokes — immigrant versus American, older versus younger, tradition versus modernity. Instead, each character is portrayed in detail, overlapping with some characters you’d expect, but at odds with other characters you wouldn’t. Every character’s experience and position are taken seriously, but not too heavily. Something I really enjoyed was how quickly the subject of an argument could shift and, with that shift, affect who was on which side. The notion of siding with your sister against your mother’s nagging then turning on a dime to fight with that same sister over a new, different disagreement, then immediately ending up back on the same side when your aunt starts a different argument is a very authentic portrayal of family dynamics. The webs of relationships between the characters made the cast feel like a very real and loving family.

The catalyst for the action is the arrival of Aunt Anne from Zimbabwe. She is here at Tendikayi’s request — and over her mother’s objections — to help perform the roora, a traditional negotiation between families for the bride price. Again, rather than devolve into a simple argument about tradition, each character gets a nuanced take on the issue. Tendi’s mother thinks it has no place in America. Anne thinks it is a vital, living part of her culture that her niece shares and cannot ignore. Tendi falls somewhere in the middle. She and her fiancé Chris want to perform this ceremony to honor her heritage, but they are rushing to squeeze it in before the rehearsal dinner, and it will be the only part of her heritage celebrated in the wedding. Identity at is the core of the show. How do we define ourselves? Is it a place? Is it family? Does it change? What do those changes cost? Again, every character gets a slightly different take and, almost uniformly, each position gets a thorough and thoughtful portrayal. More importantly, no character’s position feels like a placeholder. Each character has a specifically articulated position and a thoroughly sketched reason for it.

The cast down the line is excellent. Cheryl Lynn Bruce as Anne was amazing. Funny, forceful and proud, she dominates any room she occupies, and she knows it. Lanise Antonine Shelly as Tendikayi, Ora Jones as her mother Marvelous, and Celeste M. Cooper as her sister Nyasha form a strong emotional core of the show, perfectly evoking both the love and arguing that define a family.

For all the thought-provoking work infused in the play, the play is also surprisingly nimble. The humor and drama flow easily. Very shortly after the play begins, you are comfortably ensconced in the family’s living room, delighted and on the edge of your seat by turns. Gurira deserves no end of accolades for threading the needle of telling a complex, nuanced story thoughtfully and thoroughly, but for also making a story that is fun to watch. A lot of the dialogue is in Shona, a language of Zimbabwe, and especially the older characters had whole stretches of conversation in their first language. Every so often over the course of the night, there would be a little island of laughter in the audience. Someone, who obviously understood Shona, got a joke or a reference the rest of us didn’t. It made me reflexively lean forward in my seat, as if the few inches closer to the stage would bridge a language gap. There is much in this story that will be familiar (sorry) to any audience member, and a lot that will not. Gurira’s warmth, humor, and skill made both experiences a delight.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Kevin Curran

Presented November 15-January 13 by Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 312-335-1650 or by visiting www.steppenwolf.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found at www.theatreinchicago.com.