This Black History month, treat yourself to Donald T. Evan's One Monkey Don't Stop No Show, a comedy that plays on stereotypes within African-American society. And this weekend, Karamu Drama Group is bringing the play to Duke University's very own Schaeffer Theater.
Telling a message that's accessible to all races in America, the intricacies of the class conflicts between the upper and lower classes of society are illustrated through African-American caricatures. The Harrisons, a haughty middle class family hands over custody of Beverly, Avery Harrison's niece, to Caleb Johnson, Beverly's father's protégé and business partner.
Beverly is inwardly quite taken with Caleb, who runs the Shake-Shake Club. Avery and his pretentious wife Myra, who refers to her husband as “The Reverend Dr.,” do not approve of handing over their niece, worrying about the public image of their niece living with a nightclub owner directly above the club. But Beverly, who now owns half of the Shake-Shake Club, is excited that when she turns 21 the next year, she will become the proprietor of two-thirds of the club.
Beverly is at first stunned by the fast crowd of her new surroundings. But the young country girl quickly learns the tricks of the trade from Caleb's sassy lady friend, Mozelle, a woman in touch with her sexuality, who teaches Beverly how to dress and act seductively.
Talking about the sexual desires of women and the thought that passes through a woman's mind when she sees a sexually appealing man, Mozelle says, "If a woman talk to a man the way a man talk to a woman, she'd be by herself an' lonesome.”
Written in the early 1980s, One Monkey addresses issues that the contemporary society dealt with. A subplot of the play revolves around the controversial bestseller,The Joy of Sex—originally published in 1972—by sexologist Alex Comfort.
True to the book's popularity with the youth, Myra’s college-aged son brings the book into their sterilized, bourgeois home. The presence of the book sets the prudish Myra Harrison’s fury ablaze and gets the Reverend Dr. Avery Harrison’s hormones flowing. The Joy of Sex isn’t the only thing Felix brings home. Lil’ Bits, or Josephine Caldwell, who is from the “dangerous” side of town, joins the family, much to the horror of Myra.
The play shows the variety within the African-American community, using caricatures to kindle dialogue about the stereotypes that are projected on African Americans.
“My character tries to disown those who are not well to-do...[but she] was originally poor, then she and Avery came to their status through [fortuitous] circumstances and now looks down her nose,” said senior Chi Chi Eto, who plays the over-the-top Myra Harrison.
While the play works to criticize certain stock characters, Eto agrees with the play’s co-directors, senior Shaleia Threadcraft and sophomore Norah Yahya, that it speaks to different “types” within the African-American community—from middle-class to poverty level—as a social commentary for inter-class issues beyond the African-American social dynamics.
Being a comedy, One Monkey isn't a philosophically heavy piece, but, with its over-the-top characters, it will get the audience engaged. Throughout the play, many of the characters, from the ostentatious Lil’ Bits played by freshman Laura Welch to Avery Harrison played by senior Rasul Miller, undergo progressive and liberating changes. The most notable transformation, however, is the process that Beverly Harrison, played by senior Portia Jones, goes through to gain agency over herself as a woman.
Karamu Drama Group, in existence since the 1960s, is one of the lesser-known, student-run theater groups on campus. Karamu has a distinct mission to serve as a catalyst for critical thought and as a resource for African-American history and culture. Not all the members come from theatrical backgrounds, yet they put together the talents they have to achieve a larger purpose. They use extensive research to bring to the stage lesser-known works from African-American artists that address issues that pertain to a diverse audience.
Yahya said, “Lots of our plays happen to be controversial vehicles [that allow] the Duke community to see African American lifestyles.”
Threadcraft further ties Karamu’s aim and One Monkey together. “People tend to lump African Americans together but we’re trying to dispel the image of homogeneity, explain stereotypes through exaggerations of the stereotypes,” she said.
They both talked about the pertinence of the play, despite the fact that it was written over 20 years ago. The issues of premarital sex, college life and class struggles are exemplified indulgently. “It throws it in your face, gets you to think on your own about the topics,” said Threadcraft.
While this play is not as sensational and charged as last year's The Blacks, A Clown Show, Yahya thinks that it will elicit a reaction from the African-American students. The play illustrates African-American history that has been around but not explicitly spoken about and that cannot be ignored.
One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show will run in Shaeffer Theater Feb. 25, 26 and 27
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