Gospel music, Southern traditions, fervent faith and lavish style come together this month at the Arena Stage with the hit musical "Crowns," a whimsical production about the lives of black women in South Carolina and their undying obsession with extravagant Sunday hats.
The play only has seven characters, one male and six females, but has no lack of energy despite its tiny cast. The story begins when a Brooklyn teenager, Yolanda, is sent to live in South Carolina with her hat-happy grandmother, Mother Shaw. By embracing her African heritage and listening to the stories of Mother Shaw's eccentric friends, Yolanda is able to adapt to the hat-centered Southern lifestyle.
Each of the actresses brings a spicy attitude to the stage. A preacher's wife, a set of three sisters, Mother Shaw and Yolanda all bond over memories of buying, making and elegantly wearing unique church hats. During their monologues, each character claims to have collected and worn more than 200 different hats. Phillip Boykin, who plays everyone's husband and a lively preacher, jokes that many black women in the South can't pay their taxes, but they all somehow manage to attend church each week wearing a new fashionable hat.
Mabel (Natasha Yvette Williams) brings the most humor and entertainment to the stage through her constant worry that someone is going to bump her hat and ruin her style. She does a great demonstration of how women should hug in church to avoid touching each other's hats. As the preacher's wife, she also feels that women wearing short skirts have no right to sit in the front pew.
"My husband is up there trying to preach," she said. "He doesn't need to have the gates of hell staring at him while he's trying to worship."
Jeanette (Kara-Tameika Watkins) and Velma (Marva Hicks) also bring humor to the stage by describing the importance of hats when flirting with men. While they claim that hats should be modest in size (the brim shouldn't fall past one's shoulders), they passionately endorse sequins, flowers, bows, feathers and other decorations to catch the attention of eligible bachelors.
Mabel, Jeanette and Velma firmly believe that the sharing and trading of hats is strictly taboo. Even if she was your sister, a woman who asked to borrow one of your Sunday hats would be better off buying her own.
"I'd lend out one of my kids before I lent out one of my hats," one of the ladies said. "At least my kids know the way back home!"
In between the monologues of the bubbly Southern women, there are many interludes of familiar gospel hymns. The loud, projecting voices of the ladies combined with the deep bass of Philip Boykin form an enchanting sound. The show even incorporates some lively dancing scenes in which the characters joyfully swing their hips and raise their arms in praise of God.
"Crowns" is playing at the Lincoln Theatre until April 26. Tickets start at $25 and are available for purchase at www.arenastage.org.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
