Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle – until 2nd July 2022
Reviewed by Sandra Little
4****
This one person play was written and performed by Kemi- Bo Jacobs and directed by Floriana Dezou. Kemi -Bo is a a North East based actor who recently performed with Royal Shakespeare Company in The Winter’s Tale. The play at Alphabetti theatre charts the extraordinary life of Althea Gibson who made history in the 1950s by becoming the first black female tennis Grand Slam winner.
The performance introduces the audience to Althea, a black child born into poverty in South Carolina. We learn that Althea moved to Harlem when she was about 12, dropped out of school but won paddle tennis competitions. It was here that her talent for tennis was spotted by Buddy Walker who later became her coach. Eventually Althea won a scholarship and moved to Florida. After several rejections, Althea was invited by United States Lawn Tennis Association to play at Forest Hills. The play informs the audience that, “Althea was the first Negro to play on a Forest Hills court.” However this success, in terms of acceptance, was tempered by the fact that Althea was not allowed to attend any social functions because she was black!
Althea went on to overcome huge racial barriers and won tournaments at Wimbledon, where she was presented with her prize by Queen Elizabeth. However, the audience are told that Althea’s membership to Wimbledon was, “held up.” Later in her career, she was asked by the State Department to take on the role of ambassador and toured Asia. Not only did Althea win major tennis tournaments she also became a professional golfer and an actor in Hollywood.
Woven throughout this narrative are themes relating to issues of racism faced by Althea, and the wider black community in America. Interesting questions are raised such as, “Why is Althea Gibson part of a forgotten history?” and when discussing an early friendship Althea asks, “Do you fight or stay quiet?”There is also a powerful reference towards the end of the play to the death of Emmett Till, a 14 year old who was lynched and murdered in Mississippi, after offending a white woman.
This fast paced and powerful play relies on very few props and a basic stage set. A great deal of information and thought provoking material is packed into this one woman, 75 minute performance. However, the theatre does make it clear that swearing and racial slurs ( which I feel are an essential part of the story), may be upsetting for some people. The play frequently uses the word Negro within the dialogue and has a 16+ age recommendation.
Until I watched this play I’d never heard of Althea Gibson, which for me gives the question from the play , “Who is important enough to be immortalised in history?”a great deal of significance!