Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Lynn Nottage’s minimalist MLIMA’S TALE is a haunting, unexpected parable

• By drediman
• April 21, 2018
• No Comments

Sahr Ngaujah in Lynn Nottage’s “Mlima’s Tale” at The Public Theater.

Last night, I caught Lynn Nottage’s haunting parable of a play Mlima’s Tale at the Public Theater. Ms. Nottage’s latest is an unexpected departure from the meaty naturalistic dramas that have characterized her output thus far (her Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat quickly comes to mind). Mlima’s Tale tells the story of a majestic Kenyan elephant who is murdered to fuel the underground ivory market. Mlima’s ghost follows his tusks across the globe, haunting the human transactions that usher his remnants along.

Stylistically, Mlima’s Tale strips theater down to its very essence. Ms. Nottage’s minimalist dialogue and relatively brief scenes elegantly and efficiently push the action forward. Likewise, Jo Bonney’s direction essentially has the play performed on a bare stage; she also tastefully incorporates poetically-inclined projections to enhance her fluid, dreamlike staging. The performances from the production’s quartet of actors are all truly exemplary – with the exception of Sahr Ngaujah’s magnetic Mlima, the other three actors (Ito Aghayere, Jojo Gonzalez, Kevin Mambo, all accomplished actors in their own right) skillfully navigate a whole host of diverse characters.

To call Mlima’s Tale slight would fail to capture the 75-minute piece’s full scope. Indeed, there’s something cosmic about the way Ms. Nottage’s porous play folds time and space to tell an epic story spanning the continents. But Mlima’s Tale is also, at it’s heart, an intimate, straightforward ghost story. It’s a fascinating new direction for the playwright.

RECOMMENDED

MLIMA’S TALE
Off-Broadway, Play
The Public Theater
1 hour, 15 minutes (without an intermission)
Through June 3