Steadstyle Chicago
	June 2009 Theatre Review by Joe Stead
	Hope VI Chicago Dramatists' latest World Premiere juxtaposes upbeat pop soul music that forecasts "Only the strong survive" with poignant imagery of the Robert Taylor Homes meeting the wrecking ball.  To some the low income housing was a stifling ghetto, an urban war zone unsafe and unsuitable for young girls.  To others it was a home where they raised their families and where neighbors looked out for one another.  "These are my memories," Messiah Graves tells us.  Resident playwright Nambi E. Kelly has named her work "Hope VI," after the initiative to give those living in the projects a brighter future.  Like Lorraine Hansberry's classic "A Raisin in the Sun," "Hope VI" tells of family bonds and dreams deterred, but it does so in its own unique voice, with a harrowing combination of hope and despair. We see the family matriarch and her four grown grandchildren and three great grandchildren living in a dilapidated temporary motel room, having moved from unit to unit over the past three months as they wait to be moved up the government's list of subsidized housing.  A social worker and "relocation counselor" finds herself a victim of the same bureaucratic system she works for, but pledges to keep pushing forward.  With characteristic pride and independence, Messiah announces, "We don't need no government telling us how to live.  I won't accept that for my family now or ever."  The widowed Messiah speaks to her late husband Jack because "In my mind I can talk to anyone I want at any time".  Her great granddaughter Hope is a spirited child with an equally lively imagination.  The family's black and white television, itself a gift, is now Hope's babysitter as her muse Whoopi Goldberg keeps her company in scenes from "Sister Act".  Hope withdraws into a fantasy world halfway between the real world and make believe to forget the abuse she suffers at the hands of her mother.  Queenie is a waitress with a serious case of rage.  Her family members have even nicknamed her "Crazy".  In one harrowing monologue, we hear of her being gang raped in a project elevator when she was not much older than her 6-year-old daughter.  She insists she's really a good person whose life "ain't been no crystal stair".  Messiah, who takes care of Queenie's six children, the youngest of which sleep in the bathtub, challenges her.  "How you were raised is no excuse.  You've got to find a way to live in this world without destroying my family".  Queenie's husband Sackman is unemployed and feels helpless to realize his dreams and ambitions.  About the only thing Sackman seems capable of, in fact, is fathering a continuous assembly line of babies.  Queenie's sister Kesa, on the other hand, has plans for her life that don't include babies.  Kesa is working on her G.E.D. which she plans to use to get herself into dental school.  But is Kesa destined to follow in her sister's footsteps?  And what future can little Hope look forward to when the adults around her seem powerless to control their own destinies? Kelley has woven together an extremely moving if melodramatic tale.  As Messiah tells her little great granddaughter, "Tears are God's way of letting you know the seasons of life".  Fortunately, it's not all gloom and doom as Kelley introduces a social worker character who appears to Hope as her muse and godmother Whoopi Goldberg (in full "Sister Act" habit and wimple).  We see the importance of fantasy in alleviating some of the gloom of reality.  The fantasy scene is a campy blast, with the fabulous Sandra Watson hilariously channeling the "Whoopster" and adorable little Najwa Joy Brown bursting to life as Hope.  It makes the tragic conclusion even more painful as Queenie's rage explodes and threatens the ones she loves the most.  DuShon Monique Brown is powerful as the destructive and self-annihilating mother, while La Donna Tittle positively glows with maternal wisdom as Messiah.  "Hope VI" is a genuine Chicago story by an accomplished playwright who speaks the truth, as unflattering as that sometimes may be.     "Hope VI" plays through July 12, 2009.  The play runs 2 hours with intermission.  Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m.  Tickets are $25 and $30.  $10 Student and Industry tickets are available for Thursday and Sunday performances.  Group rates are available.  This production concludes Chicago Dramatists' 30th anniversary season.  For tickets, call (312) 633-0630 or visit www.chicagodramatists.org.   About Joe Stead Joe Stead has enjoyed a lifelong passion for the theatre, which has involved acting, directing, producing, designing and reviewing for the past twenty-five years.  He served as founder, producer and Artistic Director of Curtain Up Productions in Baltimore, Maryland and Four Star Players in Tampa, Florida.  Favorite productions have included "Life With Father," "Deathtrap," "The Odd Couple," "The Miracle Worker," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Godspell".  He has also performed leading roles in "Fiddler on the Roof," "Pippin," "The Phantom of the Opera," "The Front Page," and most recently as Hucklebee in "The Fantasticks" for Waukegan Community Players.  Joe holds a degree in Commercial Art from Tampa Technical Institute.  As a critic, he has reviewed everything from Broadway to community theatre and major regional theatres throughout the United States including the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut, and the Asolo Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.  Since 1998, he has been a proud resident of Chicago, the greatest theatre city in America.  He served for two years as Theatre Editor for College News and Central Newspapers.  He created the website Steadstyle Chicago in 2000 to showcase the city's outstanding and diverse theatre scene.  Joe was proud to serve alongside a distinguished panel of theatre professionals as a judge for two seasons of Speaking Ring Theatre's "Vitality" Festival of original short plays.  His most fulfilling role, in addition to reviewer and all-around theatre fanatic, was as director of the 2007 production of Peter Shaffer's "Equus" at Actors Workshop (now Redtwist) Theatre, which was nominated for five Joseph Jefferson Award Citations and won for Best Actor (Peter Oyloe).