Theater Review: 'Fireflies'

In 1963 an act of domestic terrorism took the lives of four children – four little girls who happened to be African American citizens of the United States. The crime was the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

From this horrific incident playwright Donja R. Love has crafted “Fireflies,” a fictionalization drama now in its West Coast debut on the Julianne Argyros Stage of Orange County’s acclaimed South Coast Repertory Theatre.

With sinuous direction by Lou Bellamy, this convoluted conceit is one-third of dramatist Love’s trilogy, known as The Love Plays, which examine “queer” love during tipping-point periods in Black history. The other two plays – ”Sugar in Our Wounds” and ”In the Middle” – are placed in the eras of American slavery and in the Black Lives Matter Movement, respectively. Each drama, however, is a stand alone play.

In ”Fireflies,” Charles Grace is a charismatic preacher who’s made it his mission to spread hope during episodes of despair; his purpose is greatly aided by his wife Olivia’s rhetorical talents; it is Olivia who pens Charles’s rousing sermons.

When the amorous couple discover Olivia is expecting a child, elation fills their lives. But when Olivia is made suspicious of Charles’s ways with other women, due to evidence delivered to her via the FBI (reminiscent of incidents from Martin Luther King Jr.’s life), doubt about the couple’s future sets in. What’s more, when Charles discovers hidden letters to another woman from Olivia the plot thickens with amorphous sexuality.

With muscular performances by Christina Clark as Olivia and Lester Purry as Charles, this two-hander cast could not be in better or more nuanced form. Love’s dialogue literally sings from the lips of Purry and fury pours from the performance of Clark. These two actors make not a false note in their characterizations. Bravo!

The scenic design by Vicki Smith is period perfection, as is the costuming by David Kay Mickelsen. The lighting design by Dan Darnutzer and the projections by Jeffery Elias Teeter, both serve to underscore the prophetic abilities of Olivia, as well as the metaphoric implications of the show’s title: ”Fireflies.”

Prepare to be lit and lifted by this 90-minute (with no intermission) theatrical trip back to the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement.

”Fireflies” continues at South Coast Repertory through Jan. 26.

SCR is located at 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Evening performances are Tuesday through Sunday at 7:45 p.m. Matinees are Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. For reservations call (714) 708-5555. For online ticketing and further information visit SCR.org.

ben@beachcomber.news