Original Article from LA Weekly by Derek Thomas
GO COLORED CONTRADICTIONS This potpourri of African-American music, dance, poetry and satire exhibits a caliber and exuberance that lift it above its essentially showcase format. The lengthiest segment is a vibrant adaptation of Zora Neale Hurstons 1942 short story, Story in Harlem Slang. Directed by Nancy Cheryll Davis, its a comic face-off, relayed in vivid patois, between two strutting street hustlers (Charles Allen and Freddy DeGrate) desperate to score a meal and some cash off a passing woman (Angie Browne) wise to their antics. The night I attended featured Paul Harris, a master of erotic metaphor, as the evenings spoken-word artist, as well as Amy Lewis, the ensembles only Caucasian performer, whose insightful poem contemplates the experience of a white woman expecting a child of color. In other excerpts, Steve Luthers Looting the Met, directed by Stevie Johnson, skewers the nouveau riche by portraying a wealthy couple (Damon Standifer and Chanell Jones) who ignorantly revel in their power to hoard expensive art, while Paula Mitchell Mannings musical Fade to Black, directed by Angela Duckett, lampoons the ludicrously sad experience of the many gifted black artists historically forced into demeaning roles. Company of Angels, 2106 Hyperion Ave., Silver Lake; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; thru March 18. (323) 883-1717. (Deborah Klugman)