‘Front Porch Society’ turns to melodrama
Despite play’s solid premise on race, strong characters don’t get their due
“Front Porch Society” could be an important story.
It’s told from the perspective of older AfricanAmerican women living in the rural South, a category of people who almost see no representation in the arts. It’s the first play I’ve seen tackle the relationship between the presidential election of Barack Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement. And it’s at the Ensemble Theatre, the only historically African-American theater in Houston, a venue whose art seems to value community more than other theaters, at a time when community is as necessary as medicine.
That’s why at first I hesitated to focus on the flaws of this play, written by Melda Beaty and whose world premiere is at the Ensemble through June 4. It’s like going to church and complaining the organist is flat. “Front Porch Society” will no doubt move and touch many people on the basis of its premise alone, and during these turbulent times a play like this can offer a much needed look back at what we thought about America in 2008.
But when it comes to the complexities of race, grief and police brutality, “Front Porch Society” doesn’t have nearly as much to say as it believes. Ultimately, the play is too sentimental, and its sweetness turns too quickly saccharine. What begins as a knowing drama devolves into melodrama, complete with weepy piano music in the background. And one can’t help but feel a sense of irony with the play’s full-hearted celebration of Obama, whose win, no doubt historic, carries a much different taste today than in 2008.
The story centers on Carrie (Michele Harrell), an aging African-American woman living in Marks, Miss., on the eve of the election. She and a few other women in the neighborhood make up the titular social group, who spend their days relaxing on their porches and talking God, family and politics.
Each of these women realizes how hard it is to be black in America, and how much harder it is to also be female. Each has a different viewpoint on what that means, whether it’s relying on God, working twice as hard or being suspicious of any good fortune — like the election of the first AfricanAmerican president — that rolls to their doorstep. In the first act, Beaty sets up what could be a touching portrait of sisterhood, with a cast of specific and human characters.
Consider one superstitious woman, Winnie (Tamara Siler), who does a little dance whenever she enters and exits her house. Or Ms. Martha (Gwen Harris), who wears oversize shades and drinks cough medicine mixed with whiskey. These are the lovable, recognizable people who bring “Front Porch Society” to life.
But the play takes a sharp turn toward melodrama, beginning with a loud, unnecessary plot device that’s supposed to represent Carrie’s grief as a mother. In the 1960s, we find out, her son was killed unjustly by a white police officer. With this backstory, Beaty poses the key societal question of the play: “What are we to make of a country where a black man can be president, but black boys can’t even survive to become black men?” I only wish the second act of “Front Porch Society” gave that issue the serious inquisition it deserves.
The issue becomes muddled by a climax that comes too soon, monologues that are more hackneyed than touching and plot elements that are too convenient to be believable. Before the characters are given their due, the plot is wrapped up in imprecise fashion. And when a film reel shows Obama’s victory speech, you can’t help but cringe at the irony when he tells an elated America that this is a country “where anything is possible.”
“Front Porch Society” has all the elements of great drama, but it needs to let its characters, plot and politics grow. Only then can one walk out thinking less about the writing and more about what really matters: Carrie, her friends and what they mean to modern-day America.