The Music & Life of Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie – Goodman Theatre

Are you ready for a powerhouse performance that’ll absolutely blow you out of your seats? Well, here she is boys…here she is world…here’s E. Faye Butler! The always impressive, multitalented, much-adored and often accoladed actress is back where she belongs. No stranger to Chicago audiences, the Divine Ms. Butler has starred at the Goodman Theatre in such hits as “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” “Crowns” and “Pullman Porter Blues,” which was also written by Cheryl L. West, the gifted author of this electrifying biographical drama. After first being presented during the height of the pandemic in parks across the city, the actress once again, completely inhabits the titular role in this one-woman production, allowing this historical figure to take over the Goodman Theatre.

But wait a minute: who the heck was Fannie Lou Hamer? She has a place in American history as one of those unsung heroes of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Although not as familiar to audiences as the names of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ms. Hamer was just as important, especially in the Jim Crow South. This fiery, passionate, God-fearing African-American woman, the daughter of a sharecropper, became a determined, fearless fighter for voting rights and a hero, whose moment has come. 

Time often diminishes some of the most important moments in history. But it wasn’t that long ago when, despite our contemporary belief that every adult citizen should have the right to vote, people of color were denied this liberty. Although the 19th Amendment gave all women voting privileges, African-American women continued to be treated unfairly and faced obstacles at the polls. Simply getting registered to vote was an impossible ordeal at that time, but Fanny Lou Hamer sought to change all that. As a member of the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement, she fought for equality for all. 

Ms. Hamer’s efforts preceded the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of the mid-60’s, which today remains as the basis for equal rights for everyone. E. Faye Butler, directed with great sensitivity by Henry Godinez, and supported by the musical talents of Morgan E., Deonte Brantley and Michael Ross, presents this beautiful one-act play as a history lesson for one and all. Told through Fanny Lou Hamer’s own words, as well as some of the moving Gospel hymns of her day, this is a performance that truly hits home and shouldn’t be missed. Today, as we watch the right to vote in certain states being challenged, this fearless warrior’s words and thoughts echo once again long and loud in our hearts.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented October 25-November 21 by the Goodman Theatre in the Owen venue.

Tickets are available at the theatre box office, by calling 312.443.3800 or by going to www.GoodmanTheatre.org/Fannie.

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