One very sharp playwright whose works are lately being rediscovered, Alice Childress (1912-1994) is best known for Trouble in Mind, a piercing look at Black identity and liberal white racism in the American theater. When that 1955 drama finally hit Broadway in 2021, LaChanze created the leading role. Her experience reportedly compels LaChanze’s New York directorial debut with Wine in the Wilderness, yet another smart, perceptive and neglected 1969 play by Childress that opened on Monday in a vivid Off Broadway revival from the Classic Stage Company.
A fascinating study in old-fashioned sexism and elitism among Black people, Wine in the Wilderness happens inside an artist’s apartment, while outside the six-day Harlem riots of 1964 are ebbing away. Before the show begins, note how effectively LaChanze and scenic designer Arnulfo Maldonado present the drama within CSC’s Lynn F. Angelson Theater, where 199 sharply raked seats survey the acting space from three sides. Situating the action against a photorealist image of a Harlem building façade, a comfortably shabby room is furnished in warm colors and anchored by a worn oriental-style rug. Near the windows reposes an easel holding several canvases hidden under cloth.
A romantic figure in paint-spattered clothes, Bill is working so intensely on his latest project – titled “Wine in the Wilderness” – that he is oblivious to sporadic gunshots and sirens. He is painting a triptych representing Black womanhood: The first shows an idealized youngster. The beautiful central figure is described as “Mother Africa, regal Black womanhood in her noblest form.” For the third panel, Bill seeks a model to pose as a contrasting “messed-up chick,” whose negative image evidently is his idea of “what the society has made out of our women … a poor, dumb chick that’s had her behind kicked until it’s numb.”
Not so long story short (the play runs a mere 85 minutes): Bill’s downstairs neighbors, Sonny-man and Cynthia, respectively a writer and a social worker, have just met a woman in a nearby bar. The couple invites her up to the artist’s pad as a potential model for this nasty third portrait. A hearty, life-of-the-party individual sporting a big smile, a poufy wig and mismatched clothes, Tomorrow Marie, known as Tommy, initially hopes Bill might be of romantic interest. “I like him, with his black, uppity, high-handed ways,” says Tommy.
What develops overnight between this plain-talking factory worker and these three glib college grads who patronize her so easily in such different ways proves unexpected and it’s not Pygmalion. Do expect the n-word to fly purposefully as Tommy finally confronts their snotty attitudes. What’s further surprising is the playwright provides a redemptive conclusion that may seem a tad hasty but fits Tommy’s upbeat character and looks hopefully towards a better understanding tomorrow.
Wine in the Wilderness mixes subtle matters such as Black women’s sensitivities about their hair with the obvious, as in the playwright’s semi-satirical depiction of Bill, whose straight Black male gaze already was chauvinistic when the play was composed over half a century ago, and now appears incredibly condescending. The Harlem riot scarcely intrudes on these doings but instead suggests the 1960s breakup of the traditional social order. After Tommy is assured a Chinese take-out meal for posing, and Bill and Sonny-man return with a hot dog and excuses, they could symbolize the failure of Black men to realize their promises. Okay, end of study notes, but viewers can look beyond the plot and its rich, tasty, idiomatic Harlem language to consider Childress’ larger Black themes involving history, class and gender. Oh, and matters even get sexy for a while. Childress packs plenty into a relatively brief play. It’s one of those works that runs deeper than it seems, like the heroine.
In Tommy, who cheerily proclaims “I’m independent as a hog on ice,” Childress paints a bold portrait of a confident Black woman who asserts she will always be “cussin’ and fightin’ and lookin’ out for my damn self ‘cause ain’ nobody else ‘round to do it, dontcha know.” Olivia Washington’s vital performance reveals Tommy’s sensitive nature glimmering beneath her brash manner. Grantham Coleman’s easy charm makes the rather insufferable Bill somewhat palatable. Brooks Brantly and Lakisha May neatly depict the superficial neighbors. Designer Dede Ayite dresses everybody with a keen eye, while Nikiya Mathis’ wig and hair design proves essential to Tommy’s character.
Not all of LaChanze’s production is so acute. Sound designer Bill Toles’ overblown riot effects and tinny offstage voices are jarring, although a pre-show mix of jazz and blues is aptly chosen. Because the play is not a lengthy one, LaChanze might well have staged certain passages at a more lingering pace to enhance audience reflection; quiet moments can be highly significant. Samantha Shoffner, the props supervisor, painted the partly completed triptych as well as over a dozen colorful canvases for the artist’s studio. Perhaps CSC might auction off the paintings at its next fundraising event; certainly they would be apt souvenirs of Childress’ penetrating racial drama where appearances prove deceiving.
Wine in the Wilderness opened March 24, 2025, at the Classic Stage Company and runs through April 13. Tickets and information: classicstage.org
