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“BULRUSHER”: Performances are underway for “Bulrusher.” Written by Eisa Davis and directed by Associate Artistic Director Nicole A. Watson, the play runs through October 7 at McCarter’s Berlind Theater. Above: The mysterious Vera (Cyndii Johnson, left) bonds with the free-spirited Bulrusher (Jordan Tyson), an orphan who has the gift of clairvoyance. (Photo by T Charles Erickson)
By Donald H. Sanborn III
The title character of Bulrusher has a unique backstory. Orphaned as an infant, she was sent down the river in a basket — the allegory to the story of Moses is obvious — and arrived in the rustic town of Boonville, California.
Now a young woman in 1955, Bulrusher has the gift of clairvoyance. She can tell a character’s future by reading the water that they have touched. In an equally perceptible reference to the story of Joseph’s ability to interpret dreams, Bulrusher has used her talent on behalf of many townspeople.
Playwright and songwriter Eisa Davis begins the multilayered drama with a poetic monologue for the mystic, free-spirited title character. “I float in a basket toward the Pacific, hands blue as huckleberries,” she recites to the river. “What is a motherless daughter but pure will? The river hears me and turns to molasses…. I am born into a new language.”
Bulrusher is a 2007 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama. Its production history includes an online presentation in 2020 by Bard at the Gate, a series that McCarter Theatre Center coproduces.
McCarter opens its current season with a fully staged production of Bulrusher, in collaboration with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Associate Artistic Director Nicole A. Watson directs.
The elaborate set, designed by Lawrence E. Moten III, is tasked with depicting — among other things — a river. This is accomplished via a stage-length gap filled with water.
Above the stage, Katherine Freer’s projections depict a serene blue sky, across which clouds gently but noticeably move. This opening tableau, which is visible before we ever hear Bulrusher’s introductory monologue, informs us that nature is a crucial component of the play, as are movement and change.
Elsewhere, many changes in the projections are beautifully synchronized with the actors’ movements; this is a credit to Freer, as well as to Watson, Movement Director Paloma McGregor, and Associate Director Jessica Natalie Smith.
Our sense of being immersed in nature is enhanced by Sound Designer Kate Marvin, who surrounds us with forest sounds, along with period songs such as Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill.” (Like Davis, Marvin also furnishes some original compositions.)
Jordan Tyson’s portrayal of the free-spirited Bulrusher captures the character’s affinity for the water, as she reverently moves her arms through it. Some of Tyson’s other motions are somewhat (artfully) jerky and unpredictable, befiting Bulrusher’s youthfulness.
As Bulrusher’s opening monologue suggests, language is important to the piece. The residents of Boonville have developed their own lingo, Boontling, which a program note describes as a “hyperlocal and elaborate secret language with specialized vocabulary. It was deliberately contrived in the late 19th/early 20th centuries.” The program offers printed translations of slang used in the dialogue; they are interesting but probably not necessary to infer much of what is said.
Upon arriving in Boonville, Bulrusher has been adopted by Schoolch, a teacher. Schoolch is reserved, often inscrutable, and for much of the first third of the play, silent. But Jamie LaVerdiere’s body language for the character speaks volumes, conveying his point of view with a swift exit, or a subtle change in facial expression while he ostensibly concentrates on reading.
Valerie St. Pierre Smith’s costumes aptly reflect all of the characters, but Schoolch’s outfit is particularly astute. Impeccably attired in slacks, a white shirt, and bow tie, he is — metaphorically and literally — buttoned up.
As is noted above, Bulrusher uses her gift of clairvoyance on behalf of several Boonville residents. However, Madame — the fastidious, businesslike owner of the town brothel — flatly refuses to let Bulrusher read her future. The character of Madame offers ample scope for a nuanced performance, and Shyla Lefner (last seen on the McCarter stage in a dual role in Between Two Knees) makes the most of this, carrying herself with dignity and infusing every line delivery with authority.
Jeorge Bennett Watson brings a placid, affable sincerity to the role of Logger, who is Madame’s most loyal customer. We will discover that Logger, like Madame, is a blood relative of another character.
Bulrusher is aggressively pursued by a young man known as Boy, whose advances she rebuffs (leading to a memorable conflict). Rob Kellogg infuses the character with raw passion and high energy. He also brings musical talents — singing and playing guitar. Much later, Boy leads the townspeople in a square dance (in a scene that is given some particularly attractive — and appropriately festive— lighting by Sherrice Mojgani).
The comparative racial harmony in the town is underlined in a scene in which Boy (who is white) accompanies Logger (who is African American) in a song. Because of moments such as this, Bulrusher (who is mixed-race) is unaware of the prejudice facing African Americans. This astonishes Vera — a Black woman from Birmingham, Ala., who arrives in Boonville. She harbors a painful secret that embitters her.
In delivering Vera’s lines, Cyndii Johnson brings a warm smoothness that is almost musical. Her body motions, too, are smooth (in contrast to Tyson’s sometime jerkiness for Bulrusher). Like Boy, Vera is impassioned — but in a more refined way. St. Pierre Smith outfits Vera with a bright red dress, underlining both her vibrancy and Bulrusher’s fascination with her.
To Boy’s frustration, Bulrusher and Vera form a close bond that blossoms when the two women bathe together in the river. Much can be read into this moment. The river connects the two characters; and because of Bulrusher’s natural affinity for the water, the sequence can be described as Vera entering her world. Carrying the play’s earlier Scriptural imagery a step further, the scene even might be interpreted as a joint baptism for the two young women — albeit a secular one.
The sequence is given some of Watson’s best staging, and some especially beautiful acting by Tyson and Johnson. What makes the scene work so well is that the connection between the two women starts tentatively, and is given room to grow.
Bulrusher allows the line between friendship and romantic interest to blur, a fact that is pointed out to her in one of the play’s most tense scenes. But it is not a simple matter of Bulrusher choosing Vera over Boy; Davis’ script is too nuanced, multilayered, and deft for that. All of the characters’ relationships — along with the play’s exploration of race, sexuality, and gender issues — develop in ways that are poignant and unpredictable.
In a review of McCarter’s production of Blues for an Alabama Sky (also directed by Watson) last spring, I wrote that the play “has a unity of script and production that is as tight-knit as the friendship that the play depicts. It makes one look forward to future McCarter productions directed by Watson.”
Aided by a uniformly talented cast and creative team, Watson’s direction of Bulrusher triumphantly builds on that previous success.
Produced by McCarter Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre; and directed by McCarter’s Associate Artistic Director Nicole A. Watson, “Bulrusher” runs through October 7 at McCarter’s Berlind Theater. For tickets or additional information, visit McCarter.org.
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