PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — We may think of the Harlem Renaissance as a movement centered in New York, but Philadelphia played a strong role in it, too.
Theatre in the X and EgoPo Classic Theater have been shining a light on that with their Harlem Renaissance season.
“We looked at Alain Locke, who was from Philadelphia, went to Central High School,” said Theatre in the X’s Walter DeShields, co-artistic director. “[He] is basically … the founder of the Harlem Renaissance.”
The season is closing this month with “Plum Bun,” a play based on the 1928 novel by Philadelphian Jessie Redmon Fauset.
Fauset grew up in Camden County before moving to Philadelphia and graduating valedictorian from Girls High. At the time, Bryn Mawr College had just declared that they would automatically accept the top Girls High graduate each year, but they did not take Black students, so Fauset was sent to Cornell University instead. She later returned to Philadelphia to earn her Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Plum Bun” is about a character who is similar to Fauset — Angela, a young, light-skinned Black woman — living in Philadelphia in the 1920s.
“Her and her mother pass for white,” explained DeShields. “They go into downtown Philadelphia … and pass as white to get into certain businesses and go to restaurants and go to the opera and stuff like that.”
The story highlights the tension between people with different skin shades within the Black community.
“Colorism is real,” DeShields said. “The lighter you are — this is the perception, at least — the more advantages you might have. And the darker you are, the less advantages you might have. And so how does that ideal or belief system impact individuals in those groups? Is there resentment between lighter-skinned Black folks and darker-skinned Black folks?”
DeShields said many Black people will tell you the answer is yes. Which has often put light-skinned or mixed-race people in a challenging position: to pass as white and deny our heritage, or to accept the disadvantages of being Black?
“If Angela goes and lives a life where she can't be completely herself, what is she giving up?” What Angela experiences is probably what a lot of mixed race folks experience even today … like the kind of in-betweenness.”
The show has a strong focus on Philadelphia places that were here in the 1920s and might still be here now.
“You will recognize a lot of what Angela and her family narrate around where they are,” DeShields says. “Streets, places that probably were there maybe 40 years ago, 30 years ago, that folks remember … She's very detailed in describing Philadelphia.”
Theatre in the X was founded with the goal of making theater more accessible to the Black community, both as audience members and performers. They usually perform in West Philly — they put on a free show every summer at Malcolm X Park.
“We want audiences of color to be able to come and watch and enjoy theater that … doesn't have to take them all the way down to Center City all the time,” DeShields explains, “or, you know, a $50 or $60 or $100 ticket doesn't keep them from seeing it.”
They’ve changed up their location for this partnership with EgoPo Classic Theater. “Plum Bun” is being performed at Christ Church Neighborhood House in Old City. And they are still offering a discount on tickets for folks who need it.
You can find information on the Theatre in the X discount code on their website, and tickets are available to purchase on EgoPo’s website. “Plum Bun” runs through April 29.
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