March 13, 2022: "Stew" at Ujima and "Pride and Prejudice" at the Kavinoky
The savory smell of something on the stove welcomes us into the Ujima Theater for this 2021 Pulitzer Prize finalist by Zora Howard called “Stew.” We’re in a kitchen, a functioning one. Water runs from the taps in the sink and there’s a wastebasket stashed under the food prep island for the scraps from an endless succession of carrots, string beans, peppers, onions and potatoes that are sliced, diced, scooped up and thrown into a big pot on the back burner. I can’t help but recall the old theater adage – the one that says if you see a gun at the beginning of the first act, it’s going to be fired before the end of the third act – and wonder if it applies to knives. Will there be brandishing? Not literally, but they’re constantly in motion. Mama’s cooking is the heart and soul of this 90-minute visit, which begins with Mama (Karen Saxon) declaring that she’s going to cat...