Rashad Shines in Gem of the Ocean

As the opening strains of a fiddle fill the room, the tone is set for the production of Gem of the Ocean. A story of love, politics and spirituality, Gem is, like the melody of the fiddle, simple but powerful, clear-cut but complicated.

Set in 1904, Gem is the ninth of the ten scripts playwright August Wilson penned to document the life of African-Americans in the 20th century. Nominated for Best Play in the 2005 Tony Awards, it takes place nearly 40 years after the Civil War, in Pittsburgh, with the memory of slavery still fresh in people's minds. While slavery is no longer legal, it is still an issue. Some rejoice its abolition, while others resent it. Some wonder if anything has changed at all.

Currently playing on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York, Gem tells the story of a close-knit group of friends of 285-year-old resident Aunt Ester (Phylicia Rashad). Known as a soul-saver, Ester is sought after by Citizen Barlow (John Earl Jelks), a young man with a heavy burden. He desperately wants to wash his soul of his sins, and he is convinced Ester can help him. With Ester as his guide, Barlow travels to the mythical City of Bones, located at the bottom of the ocean, constructed from the glistening white bones of former slaves.

The play also illustrates the conflict of the changing role of African-Americans in society. This is personified in the character of Caesar (Ruben Santiago-Hudson). A black businessman and landlord, Caesar is caught between the white and black people of the neighborhood. Torn between being a businessman and a regular citizen, Caesar appears heartless and cruel until he delivers a powerful monologue, illustrating what he is struggling to do and what he has done.

Both moving and metaphorical, Gem's script is filled with symbolism. The dialog is packed with similes and metaphors, and at times it becomes too much to handle.