January 19, 2012
In American historical memory, Klan violence in the deep South rightfully receives the greatest share of the blame for the perpetuation of lynching well into the twentieth century. The statistics are impossible to refute; most lynchings took place in the Jim Crow South. But Klan hatred, however prevalent, didn’t happen in a vacuum.
In June 1920, an angry mob lynched three young African-American men. Wrongfully accused of raping a white woman, they were held in prison without legitimate witnesses and devoid of legal counsel. Yet this story didn’t unfold in Mississippi or Alabama. It happened in the supposedly sleepy, Minnesota-nice city of Duluth. John B. Davidson’s compelling musical, The Last Minstrel Show, focuses on these true and tragic events.
Under the direction of professor Mark Cryer, the theater department staged this production as part of the College’s week long celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
After Professor Doc Woods and his delightful jazz band started the evening off with a few tunes, the mood of the event turned serious and reflective as philosophy Professor Todd Franklin offered his perspective on the Minnesota murders and their distinct connection to the legacy of Dr. King.
“Martin Luther King Day is not only an opportunity to remember the triumphs [of the African-American experience],” Franklin asserted. “But also to remember the tragedies.” It is in that spirit of remembrance that the all-student cast offered its interpretation of Davidson’s innovative and experimental work.
At some points in the show, the cast was a merry band of musical players, fulfilling the demeaning minstrel show stereotype of the singing and dancing “darkie.” At others, they played the tragic victims and perplexing perpetrators of the play’s unifying crime.
The Duluth lynchings were obviously a serious and tragic event. Why, then is there all this singing and dancing? Kadahj Bennett’s character, in the show’s most powerful and heart-wrenching performance, raised this very question. In a sudden outburst of disgust, Bennett silenced everyone else on the stage. He wondered aloud about the lynchings and why no one was taking them more seriously.
A somber silence ensued for maybe five to ten seconds. Then, the jovial singing and dancing of the Interlocutor, played brilliantly by Anthony Mathieu, recommenced and the minstrel show style began once more.
Bennett also offered the evening’s most riveting singing performance. The gospel style number “I Will Take My Lord by the Hand” floored the audience with its soulful melodies. Bennett performed the number in a jail cell with his fellow accused men only moments before they were attacked by the lynch mob.
The sold out crowd rose to its feet with delight at the end of the show, and with good reason. Not only did the theater students manage to entertain, they helped tell a story that deserves to be continually told. Knowing the quality of Professor Cryer’s work, next year’s MLK celebration promises to be just as good.