By Robert St. Martin
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 7/23/23 – On Saturday there was a fine production of Amina Henry’s Nothing, Nothing at the Friendship Baptist Church in Pasadena – directed by the amazingly-talented Elisa Bocanegra, founder of the HERO Theatre here in Los Angeles. Nothing, Nothing is a site-specific adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing set and performed entirely in a Baptist church. Amina Henry’s play explores the experience of Black women, joy, self-care and love; interracial relationships; and finding commonalities and acceptance in a church community. This adaptation puts the bonds of love, family, and faith to the test in a hilarious comedy of errors. Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s best loved romantic comedies and I must first say that Amina Henry re-imagining of the play brilliantly captures Shakespeare’s way of giving voices to women but also helps a contemporary audience a window into the world of Black women in a church community.
The production stars Nedra Snipes as the fiery, unstoppable Beatrice, who is a devoted member of her local Black church congregation but is often the victim of gossip because she is a divorced for some years from a man who drink and gambled and cheated on her repeatedly. This is clearly Beatrice’s play, and her presence dominates the stage – in organizing church snacks on Sundays, teaching the ladies’ Zumba class at the church, or participating in the fund-raiser for the Women’s Center. Like Shakespeare’s famous Beatrice, this “Bee” has a sharp tongue and feisty wit that is at its best in countering the gossip of women in her church and fending off the intrusive men – especially Benedick – who find her assertiveness and her sharp words that sting too much.
As in Shakespeare’s comedy, Amina Henry’s Nothing, Nothing is about romantic entanglements. So early on, we met Hero (played by Angie Green), the cousin of Beatrice. Hero is young, demure, and virginal – watched over attentively by her strong-willed and controlling Mother Leona (Stacy Highsmith). We soon learn that a young Black church member Claudio (Joseph Henderson) is very interested in Hero and wishes to marry her. This is good news for the Black congregation overseen by Pastor Don Juan (Cary Thompson) who opens the play with a Sunday sermon about sex as the great temptation although the devil’s pleasures are permitted within the bonds of heterosexual marriage. Pastor Don Juan enjoys his revered status in the church and also the donuts that the lively church ladies Sister Connie (Georgina Elizabeth Okon) and Sister Betty (Tamika Simpkins) gladly provide for refreshments after the service.
Into this church gathering after a Sunday sermon by the Pastor comes Benny (Clinton Lowe), a clever but somewhat jaded man who has been to the university and has a management job at the local Target store. He likes to think of himself as having his life in order but often misses church services due to the demands of his job. Benny, like Shakespeare’s Benedick, is as strong-willed as Beatrice who he finds impossible despite her physical attractiveness. The two tend to avoid each other and have nothing but spite for each other. Benny teaches a men’s Bible study class for the Church on Thursday nights and eventually, like Beatrice, gets asked to be on the church’s committee to help raise funds for the Women’s Center.
The local black church community of Nothing, Nothing mirrors many a Black church in the United States and this one where the play is staged is actually the historic Friendship Baptist Church in Old Town Pasadena – an ideal setting for a play about a church community. If you know the plot of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, you will delight in Amina Henry’s rendering of the story. Of course, the fireworks and witty banter between Beatrice and Benny takes stage center and will eventually entangle them in a net where their true feelings will reveal themselves. Both Clinton Lowe and Nedra Snipes have extensive stage experience but they have both appeared in Shakespeare productions in the past. Some of the actors are resident performers with the Elisa Bocanegra’s HERO Theatre Company and I must say that this production oozes with talent.
Not only has director Elisa Bocanegra assembled a fine cast of talented actors with some amazing resumés in theatre and television but she has incorporated song, dance, and movement into this production. Nedra Snipes as Beatrice has an amazing voice as a singer and is backed up on stage by Shanae Wise, who also serves as Assistant Director and Dance Captain here. The musical interludes and songs are provided by the church band, consisting of Dre Gipson, Derrick Murdock, Brett White, and Kerry Griffin. The creative team includes Maggie Dick (Costume Design) and Gabe Rodriguez (Lighting Design).
Like Amina Henry’s previous commission for HERO Theatre, Troy (2019), this play Nothing, Nothing was commissioned as part of a special partnership with the Downtown Women’s Center and the Alexandria House. HERO provides women experiencing houselessness and domestic violence with free tickets, a prologue discussion, and private transportation to and from the show. Nothing, Nothing is supported, in part, by the National Endowment of the Arts and the California Arts Council.
Elisa Bocanegra is the director of this production by the HERO Theatre, which she founded eleven years in downtown Los Angeles. It is a community-based company that uses art to model and bring about social and environmental justice. They invite audiences to envision and experience America as they do. HERO examines classical and contemporary works, ensuring that equity, diversity and inclusion remain in the forefront. Hero Theatre and its offshoot, Hero Multimedia, recently launched Nuestro Planeta, a multimedia, new works initiative that educates Latiné film and theater audiences about environmental justice within the Americas. Elisa has been part of the Oregon Shakespeare Company in the past and has directed Troy, a modern retelling of The Trojan Women (written by Amina Henry) for the HERO Theatre. She has also directed Festival Irene: A Tribute to Cuban Playwright Maria Irene Fornés and The Floating Island Plays by Eduardo Machado. Elisa has been the recipient of a Fulbright Grant for her research on environment issues and local community theatre in the country of Colombia.
Amina Henry is a Brooklyn-based playwright whose plays, in addition to Troy, include Ducklings and The Animals at JACK (Brooklyn, NY); Happily Ever at Brooklyn College; Bully at Baltimore’s Interrobang Theatre; An American Family Takes a Lover, produced by The Cell: a 21stCentury Salon and presented by Theater for the New City in New York, NY; Water at Drama of Works (Brooklyn, NY), The Minstrel Show, produced as part of the 2013 Bring a Weasel and a Pint of Your Own Blood Festival at 13th Street Theatre/CSC. She was a featured playwright at the 2013 Black and Latino Playwrights Conference at Texas State University. Publications include Hello, My Name Is Joe in the compilation 24 Gun Control Plays, published by NoPassport Press. Amina Henry is a graduate of Yale University, NYU’s Performance Studies M.A. program and Brooklyn College’s M.F.A. playwriting program.
Performances began July 14th and run through July 29th at the Friendship Baptist Church, a historic Black church in Pasadena where Martin Luther King Jr. once spoke. Tickets and more information are available at www.herotheatre.org.