August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom made a homecoming to the Yale Repertory Theatre this October, where it premiered almost 40 years ago, and its thematic core is as relevant as ever.
The play follows Ma Rainey, played by Maiesha McQueen, and her ambitious ensemble trumpeter Levee, starring Jimmie “J.J.” Jeter, as they navigate the 1920s recording industry under white managers and label heads who control their creative output.
Though the play is named after Ma Rainey, Levee is arguably the protagonist, solidified by Jeter taking the final bow in director Timothy Douglas’ staging at the Yale Rep. From the jump, Levee is tired of the musical direction Ma Rainey’s discography leans toward and wants the quartet of Black ensemble members he's part of to play a more sophisticated rendition of her signature track, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Levee receives pushback from both Ma and the czars of the recording studio, Irv, played by Jeff Parker, and Sturdyvant, played by Neal Lerner. Both are white label managers concentrated mostly on taming Ma’s vivacious attitude and maximizing her recording sessions.
Agitated by their unwillingness to entertain his musical ambitions, Levee erupts into a story about watching his mother be gang raped by a host of white men when he was a child. Levee is determined, above all else, not to be victimized, whether it be by circumstance, by the white man, or by God.
Jeter said playing the part of Levee meant he had to dislodge buried feelings about growing up in North Carolina.
“To be a son of the South and to navigate the world outside of the South, it’s very unique,” Jeter said.
Jeter said compounded racism and the history of the Black diaspora in the South influence his own way of mediating with his environment.
“In that way I align with Levee, like I have to move through the world in this way,” Jeter said.
McQueen and Jeter play characters who risk being folded into the emotion they express most throughout the play. Ma Rainey is unmistakably high maintenance; she makes constant requests of her managers, Irv and Sturdyvant, drags out recording sessions, tussles with people, and dissents purely for the fun of it.
McQueen said her portrayal of Ma required meticulous research and an acceptance of a wide emotional register so Ma didn’t read as just agitated or angry. McQueen also said it was difficult to toe the line with trusting her audience.
“I’ve been in auditions where the character descriptions literally say ‘she comes in angry’ and they’ve told me not to be too angry,” McQueen said.
McQueen said she shed her fear about playing Ma as an angry Black woman archetype when she came to consider the political context of the play.
“You’re talking about a time when they were hanging bodies from trees and burning down Black towns,” said McQueen, “anger doesn’t begin to describe it; it’s rage.”
In Ma Rainey’s, imbued in every Black character’s outburst or refusal to comply with an industry standard is a legacy of politicized racial pressures.
Levee and Ma are united in their refusal to capitulate, to the point where any action, big or small, from a white producer telling Ma to sing without letting her drink her Coke first or someone stepping on Levee’s shoe, reads as a targeted attack and insinuation of less-than status.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is showing at the Yale Repertory Theatre until Friday, Oct. 24.
