author: Lilou Von Kokoro
I honestly haven’t ventured into the city in many years. But on the last day of summer, I spent the evening at Spotlighters Theatre, located in Baltimore City on St. Paul Street, seeing A Raisin In The Sun, written by Lorainne Hansberry, as directed by Rain Pryor.
Spotlighters definitely has an intimate feeling especially with its theater in the round staging. The crowd that night was small but you could feel the anticipation.
In a modern context, the production of William Shakespeare’s works largely hangs upon the performers’ ability to voice these verses in such a way that the audience not only instantly and instinctually understands their meaning, but may also benefit from their specific notes of humor, tragedy, etc. In this sense, Spotlighters Theatre’s Twelfth Night – the classic gender-bending romantic comedy – is a decidedly mixed bag.
The older generation of performers seem to know exactly what they’re doing here,
Set in Memphis during the Great Depression, Hoodoo Love – written by Katori Hall, directed by Rain Pryor, and currently playing at the Spotlighters Theatre – exists at the seamy and sultry crossroads where superstition, the blues, and matters of the heart converge… the sort of crossroads where Tommy Johnson, referenced in this piece (along with a great many other blues legends), might well have stood at midnight and sold his soul for his music.