Where Are We Going, Where Have We Come From

By May Mahala, August Wilson Dramaturgical Fellow

Mahala: As the co-writer and co-director of this production, could each of you talk about this year’s production concept for Black Nativity A Homecoming?

Rambo: I can speak to what led up to this year’s remount and re-conception because where we are at this year comes from a process of maturation. In terms of the writing, we wanted to make sure that we have a storyline that gives even greater consideration to the function of Black Nativity in this community. When Lou Bellamy and I sat down to talk about the writing several years ago, we wanted to insure that the story gave the audience a chance to understand how valuable Black Nativity has become over the years and how it has become such a part of people’s holiday celebrations. We had taken a hiatus for a year and we really wanted to give some recognition to the previous incarnation of Black Nativity and celebrate what the story meant and where it had come from. From that, we created our Reflections of Black Nativity, and we received a great response to that. So we asked ourselves what we could do to make this an ongoing story. We decided to bring this story into the context of a house, into the context of a family, into the context of a community, a community very similar to the community that has sustained Penumbra Theatre. We created the character of the grandmother, who is the matriarch of her family. We know that women have sustained our communities in so many ways and have held together the holidays through the traditions of cooking and of storytelling and of quilting so the idea for the storyline was to bring all of that together. Now we are looking at ways we can continue to enhance the story and to keep it compelling.

Van: I believe the story is about a family that comes together stands firm on a solid foundation. I believe this is a family that testifies through storytelling, through song, through music and in so doing they pass the legacy of love.

Mahala: You have both been involved in Black Nativity for a number of years. Because this year is the theatre’s 30th anniversary, I think it is important to look back at Penumbra’s history. Could each of you speak to the history of Black Nativity and its function within this theatre?

Van: Penumbra and Black Nativity have created an expansive feeling within the community and when we did take that breath, that year where we didn’t do the production, it was a little dispiriting. I felt a little dispirited after having been part of the fabric of the family that created this theatre’s unique vision of Black Nativity.

Rambo: We resumed Black Nativity in 2004, which was the year that Kathryn Gagnon passed. During the 2004 production we acknowledged Kathy’s connection to Black Nativity and brought many of the past cast members into the house and acknowledged them.

Van: I’ve always felt like it has been an honor to be one of the storytellers that brought Black Nativity to life. So having it re-mounted is like a gathering up again, a knitting together of the family. I think it’s important especially in terms of what’s going on today, in current events and locally with the gradual deterioration of our families. It’s like a small stand that we’re taking. We’re standing on the hope that we are able to bring this family home, that we can bring this community together, that we can bring this world together. That’s what this production means to me.

Rambo: As a story Black Nativity speaks to the Christ story, it is about faith, about a power greater than oneself, about fearlessness, and about standing on rock. There’s a song “Jesus is a Rock,” about standing on that solid bedrock of faith and I think that for many a season this production has been the bedrock that has sustained this company. Over 30 years, Black Nativity has been the cornerstone of this theatre in its 20 or so years of production. This production has brought so much light, and offered itself as a safe space and as a haven and has allowed young people, who might not have been able to connect with the story initially, to come to full adulthood over the years connecting with this story and finding a way to bring that faith and that belief to this community in St. Paul and now to their own children. To see that happen over the years and to notice the generational connection has been a blessing.

Van: I think that what makes families stay together is their faith, whatever faith that is. The family in this production’s faith happens to be Christianity, that’s why they stay together and they celebrate that and they pass it on and keep it alive. And just like the family in Black Nativity, we are now able to pass on this tradition and this story to others.

Mahala: Thank you for sharing your experiences and your insights. I think the production history of Black Nativity is kept primarily in the bodies and memories of those that have created it over these many years. Thank you for sharing some of that history with the public.