Berniece ain’t selling that piano: The Piano Lesson

In collaboration with Pit and Balcony Theatre, Earthen Vessels of Color presented August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.  A cast of extraordinary actors created a story of a family tied together by their ancestors and torn apart by a piano owned by those ancestors.

Nicole Pennymon is Berniece, a widow with a young daughter and a piano once owned by her slave ancestors. Berniece will never sell that piano.  It is her only tie to the family who survived their past. She holds tightly to that survival. Nicole’s portrayal of Berniece is one of strength, living with the death of her husband and raising her daughter on her own, and sadness, wishing for a different life for her ancestors and for herself.

Daniel Brown plays Berniece’s brother, Boy Willie.  A sharecropper from the South, Boy Willie comes North to sell watermelons that he brought with him from down south.  He also plans to sell the family piano, so he has enough money to buy a piece of property back home.  He knows that Berniece will fight him on the sale but he insists that the piano is half his and he has a right to sell it if he wants. Everyone keeps telling him, Berniece ain’t selling that piano.  Watching Brown as Boy Willie, one is reminded of a child who wants something that he has already been told he can’t have.  He plots and plans to get approval from Berniece and when that doesn’t work, he resorts to flat out defiance; he will take the piano out of the house and sell it on his own. Brown moves around the stage with restless energy and visible frustration as he is stopped at every turn.

Boy Willie is accompanied by his friend, Lymon, played by TayVelle Richmond. Lymon just wants to make everyone happy and stay out of the way of any conflict.  Richmond perfectly portrays Lymon, a loyal friend whose restless energy matches that of Boy Willie.

Jason Sims is Doaker, Boy Willie, and Berniece’s uncle. He is the calming presence in the family.  He has heard the argument before, and he knows how each person will react.  He knows that Boy Willie wants to sell the piano, and he knows that Berniece ain’t selling that piano. Sims’ personality is the same as Doaker, calm and rational.

Maretha, Berniece’s daughter, is played by Symone Land.  Maretha is a quiet girl. She observes what is happening around her with curiosity but never in a way that causes her mother to worry.  Land is an excellent choice for this character.  She has an innocence that befits a girl of eleven, while also showing the curiosity and energy that comes from a girl growing into adolescence.

Two other characters round out the main cast, Raheem Saltmarsh as Winning Boy and Melvin McDowell, Jr as Avery.   Both characters provide a distraction to the tension between Berniece and Boy Willie.  They know of the conflict but they are not a direct participant.

This play is a perfect representation of family conflict when one member is clinging to the past while another is hoping to reap the rewards of the past and move forward.  Director, Glecia Wright-Tatum, chose an exceptional cast and created a story that draws you in and holds you until the final moments.

There is one final showing of The Piano Lesson on Saturday, August 1 at 730pm at Pit and Balcony Theatre.  Tickets are selling out quickly.  If you have a chance to see this play, do it.