Dan Myers
Laetitia Hollard (left) plays Ruth and Alice Wenzlow plays Goldie.
In Children’s Theater of Madison’s production of To the Promised Land, playing at Overture Center through April 30, two girls who live in the same house in a desperate and depressed part of Milwaukee reach across decades (1914 to 1968) to share their stories with one another. A troubled African American girl named Ruth (Laetitia Hollard) bonds with a teenage Goldie (Golda) Meir (Alice Wenzlow) as they struggle to move forward during difficult political times.
Milwaukee actor and playwright Jonathan Gillard Daly has a personal connection to Golda Meir’s legacy in that city. His daughter Emily attended the school that was named for the Israeli prime minister. And he was struck by a photo taken of Golda Meir embracing a young African American girl when she visited her old school in 1969. “Looking at that photo, I wondered if there was a story here — if I could bring them together in a work of fiction. The play (To the Promised Land) grew out of that,” says Daly.
The idea of juxtaposing the story of a young girl who escaped anti-Semitic persecution in Ukraine at the turn of the century with that of a girl caught in the violence of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s is an interesting one. And the girls’ stories certainly have interesting parallels. Unfortunately, the characters never really connect in this production, and their personal narratives — one biography, one composite of many experiences — do little to illuminate the historical events in the play. Instead the script is filled with platitudes and exposition, frequently narrating more interesting events that happen offstage and leaving the audience with little actual information.
By far the most captivating moments of the play involve Ruth (a strong and emotional Hollard), her mother (a transcendent Jeri Marshall) and Ruth’s slain brother Cliff (a compelling Marques Causey). Marshall’s recollections of an idealized South don’t ring true, but her determination to manage her many jobs cleaning houses while supporting her daughter is raw and real. And Cliff’s stories of nonviolent protest during fair housing marches in Milwaukee and police brutality are particularly moving. The energy and emotional complexity of these moments stand in stark contrast to the Meir family’s scenes, which seem staid and predictable. A plot point when Goldie’s mother pressures her to marry a much older man instead of pursuing her education feels like it was lifted directly from Fiddler on the Roof.
Just as the script largely skims over the surface of the lives of Ruth and Goldie, the set (by Mike Lawler) and costumes (by Shannon Heibler) look artificially nice and clean — like a Disney version of hardship. Goldie tells her sister at one point that the family is poor, but there is no evidence of it visually. Similarly, Ruth challenges her teacher (a capable Trevor Rees) when he claims that they were raised the same area. Clearly there is supposed to be a marked difference between “Sixth and Center” and the subdivisions for middle-class white families further from the city’s center. The set doesn’t communicate that.
Designed to engage a slightly older youth audience, most of the performances of To the Promised Land will be school matinees, which is great. These viewers will benefit from the terrific study guide assembled as a companion to the show by CTM’s education department, and the opportunity to discuss some of the issues the play raises in more depth in their classrooms.
