Hymn - A Review

It’s a story about two Black men, brothers like many men we know. Even more so because the story takes place on the South Side of Chicago. It reveals and exposes the inner nuance of the powerful relationship that exists between straight Black men—relationships not often exposed or held in high regard.

Playwright Lolita Chakrabarti, author of Hymn, says, “The title conjures up music and men…. I love how music can transport you back in time. Music and memory are very linked. I learned that sympathetic resonance—when a tuning fork vibrates because it feels the vibration of another tuning fork without ever touching it—shares a harmonic likeness. I thought, ‘Wow! What a beautiful idea: to have these two characters who can tune into each other and sing each other’s tune.’ Music and men.”

Interestingly, Chakrabarti is a product of Britain and feels strongly that American people of color share a similar standing in society, noting that the history and navigation of life is very different. The difference in the two versions of emancipation from slavery and migration to the colonialist land, with the subsequent integration of a people, make for two very different stories—with the inner consequential emotional impact being the end product.

So, to work in the States with that understanding in sight, Director Ron O.J. Parsons says that the transposing of the play from England to Chicago has changed it. If for no other reason, the African American's emphatic connection to music is undeniable, with each genre and period documenting the headspace of its corresponding generation. Each musical footprint addressing the socio-political turbulence or questions of the moment in history is an indicator of the space in time that occupied the mindset of the people, no matter their personal journeys. The music always tells you what loomed largest.

Hymn surprises us, however, because the music heard is not sung by a choir, but rather by the hearts of Benny and Gil, who are not childhood friends, but—by the unexpected news of their relationship—come together as grown men and learn to respect, value, and appreciate one another. Through the music they embrace in that moment—yet built upon the music of their past—they find themselves singing the hymn of life, love, and family. The pursuit always being the promise of peace.

I was blown away by the ability of the two actors who portray men that you and I know: Benny, portrayed by Chike Johnson, and Gil, played by James Vincent Meredith—two of the country’s finest actors—who bring to life two everyday men whose story is one of the most unsung ballads of a Black man’s love story in America.

I read the press release that described the two men who came together as strangers yet, before long, “they’re singing the same tune.” I am inclined to say I disagree. It is the suppressed quiet within each that longed to be spoken and heard—that bellowed out the hymn that labored the love—and their voices, weighted from the interference of life’s experiences that had been buried for their lifetimes, burst through because of the experience that pushes it through loud and clear.

The story is about their discovery of self/selves and the unspoken that hangs in the balance.

The performance runs approximately 100 minutes with no intermission, so don’t consume too much liquid before the show. You’ll be so engaged with the onstage theatrics that you won’t even notice the time fly.

Go see this magnificent piece of work—now on stage at Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier.

Call 312.595.5600 or go to ChicagoShakes.com for tickets! And tell them that you heard about it at Chicago News Weekly.