Old Settler – a woman who
is pushing 40, who’s never
been married and has no prospects.
This is the definition given
in John Henry Redwood’s “The
Old Settler” in which Elizabeth,
an old, old settler (think the above
definition, but add 15 years) and
her sister Quilly rent a room to a
young man, Husband, who is new
to Harlem. Despite the fact that
Husband has come to Harlem to
find his girl Lou Bessie, a romance
inexplicably blooms between the
young man and Elizabeth, much
to the consternation of Quilly and
Lou Bessie. Elizabeth is forced to
choose between her love of Husband,
and the prejudices of those
around her that a young man
could ever truly love a woman of
Elizabeth’s age.
At first the script feels clever
and endearing. A back-story that
clearly colors the sister’s relationship
is hinted at, but the audience
is left to fill in the blanks. A love
interest is expected, and a very
charming interlude is provided.
The act ends with a great build
up of suspense and picks up in
the second act when the aforementioned
back-story explodes
between the sisters with a rush
of pent-up emotions and bad
blood. However, it turns out that
those hints in the first act are
actually Redwood’s entire hand
because the bad blood turns out
to be exactly what is expected. The
sweet predictability of the first act
becomes resigned disappointment
as the storyline continues
down the implied path without
a single twist or turn for interest.
It’s not a bad road to travel down;
it is well performed and enjoyable.
Just know that you’re on the kiddie-
coaster, not Space Mountain.
The relationship between the
two sisters is marvelous. Ruby
Hinds as Elizabeth and Jolie Oliver
as Quilly have one of those
relationships that you only see
between family members, because
if they didn’t share blood they
would have killed each other or
parted company long ago. Elizabeth
is the resigned caretaker of
her younger sister who whines or
finagles her way out of doing her
share of the chores, all the while
fussing about anything and everything
that comes her way. Oliver
accentuates every gripe with the
exclamation, “Shoot!” and with
her varied deliveries it never
ceases to garner a laugh. Both
of the sisters are well developed
and Hinds and Oliver both deliver
nuanced performances that speak
depths beyond the words that
they utter.
John R. Davidson, as
Husband, has a fine performance.
Unfortunately, the script leaves his
character pretty two-dimensional.
He’s a naïve mama’s boy from the
backwoods of South Carolina.
Lou Bessie, played by Crystal Garrett,
has a little bit more dimension
to her, but Garrett has too
many modern day mannerisms
to pass for a 1940’s woman. When
she demonstrates her dance moves
while talking about going down to
the Savoy to do the Lindy Hop, it
becomes questionable whether
she has ever actually seen anybody
dance the Lindy Hop, much less
dance it herself.
Despite the predictability of the
script, there are some very funny
and very touching moments. An
underlying theme of the prejudices
against African Americans in the
early 40’s is eye opening simply in
its prevalence within their day-today
lives. They speak of it, not in
outrage, but frustration. A frustration
that no matter what they do or
where they go, this plague of racism
clings to them to try to keep them
down. But there is a resiliency that
exists beside this scourge that creates
a sense of hope. Hope that
one day things will be better.
Kat Michels is a two-time
regional Emmy award-winning
writer with an AAS in video production
and a BFA in theatre.