IF YOU STAGE

What: ‘No Child…’

Where: The Syracuse Stage

When: Until Oct. 10 (Check out syracusestage.org for specific times and dates)

How much: $20, $15 with valid student ID

 

 

Syracuse Stage’s first play of its 2010-11 season, ‘No Child…’ demonstrates the power of a woman in control. Set in a Bronx public high school, the one-woman show dramatically explores the failures of the urban public school system. Yes, one woman.

 

Reenah Golden plays a cast of 16 different characters, ranging from an ensemble of high school students to an aging janitor. The production revolves around the character Nijala Sun, who is based off of the play’s original author of the same name. The ‘real’ Sun is an actress who refers to her profession of teaching actors as a ‘teaching artist.’ The fictional Sun arrives at Malcom X High, ready to put on a production of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s ‘Our Country’s Good.’ She soon finds out she’ll be working in one of the roughest schools within the nation’s poorest neighborhoods.

 

‘No Child…’ first premiered in 2006 when the author, Sun, wrote and starred in an off-Broadway adaptation of her past: working as an English schoolteacher in the ghettos of New York City. Sun’s performance helped earn the play 17 awards that season, including the Helen Hayes Award and the Outer Critics Circle’s John Gassner Playwrighting Award for Outstanding New American Play.

 

It takes big shoes to fill a role based on a character that an author created out of personal experiences. Add to it the fact that the actor must figure out how to play 16 characters in one show, and the play ends up with one of the most challenging roles in recent American drama.

 

But Golden shows no trouble with the role. She seamlessly moves from character to character in a brilliant manner that must have taken extreme dedication to master. Timothy Bond’s direction moves the show along quickly, ending long before it should have, mostly thanks to the diverse characterizations. Golden literally talked to the audience for 75 minutes, but it felt more like 15 — something most one-person shows can’t usually boast.

 

What makes the show move so quickly is hard to pinpoint. It could be the dialogue between characters, which is a beautiful mix of humor, irreverence and social commentary. Or it could be the staging and lighting, which are so simplistic the audience is left with no choice but to zero in on Golden’s dialogue. It’s most likely the fact that Golden serves not just as an actress, but something of a storyteller, giving the show strong vibes of traditional African oration. 

 

Golden introduces herself to the audience as the janitor, an elderly man who has worked at Malcom X High since the 1950s. Moments later, she’s Sun. A few moments after that, she’s an entire classroom of students.  

Not only does Golden provide a different voice for each and every part, she employs a distinct physical persona for each. When she’s the brash student Shondrika, her voice shifts to a diva tone, her arm circling to the right with sass. When Golden takes on a Hispanic student, Jose, she leans back in her chair and her voice lowers several octaves.

 

The list goes on and on. By the end of the show, the audience has no trouble telling when Shondrika’s about to take stage or when the Russian teacher wants the class to sit down.

 

But the emphasis of the show is not only on the actor’s style and commitment to the play. ‘No Child…’ delves into the societal issues regarding education today and raises the question of whether anyone’s really not left behind. ‘No Child…’ is not another racially driven story — it’s a beautiful and entertaining snapshot of the degradation of one of America’s most prized institutions. 

 

 

gmillerj@syr.edu