The play s third character is the mountain, designed by Ming Cho Lee. The white monolith is impressive and the foam of which it s made allows for real climbing with real picks and crampons, complete with crunching sounds and a mini-avalanche. The end does come, and in these performances it does produce the pity and fear that characterize classic tragedy. Something like this could happen to one of us. There is dignity in everyday people.
Life isn t fair, but our choices can be noble.
Sections of this play are clunky and elements of the dramaturgy are very obvious. The total, carefully wrought, exceeds the sum of the parts. The show is director Sheldon Epps idea, setting Twelfth Night in Harlem and using Duke Ellington s music. Cheryl West wrote the book. She s a hick from the Mississippi with a passion for writing music.