“Talking Masks” examines women’s lives

The upcoming Pillsbury House Theatre/Carlyle Brown & Company collaboration on Brown's "Talking Masks," directed by the author and starring Obie Award winner Louise Smith, holds enormous promise. As a matter of fact, in addition to the already esteemed talents of Brown and Smith, the production boasts the talents of residency artist Oliver Lake, who will score the production. New Jersey-based globe-hopper Lake is a composer, saxophonist, poet and spoken word artist who can name, among a laundry list of impressive credits, a Guggenheim Fellowship, commissions from the Library of Congress and the honor of having his compositions preserved at the Smithsonian. Lake has performed through out the world, touring Japan, Australia and Europe in 1996 with The World Saxophone Quartet (as co-founder) and Trio Three. He has also performed and arranged for such diverse artists as Bjork, Lou Reed, Abbey Lincoln and Tribe Called Quest.

Lake got hooked up with Pillsbury House Theatre through his good friend actor-director-writer Laurie Carlos, whose work is well known to Twin Cities audiences. He had copped a McKnight Visiting Composer with the American Composers Forum Grant and was looking for an outfit to work with. "She put me in touch with several groups," Lake recalls. "I contacted all of them and had this talk with Faye Price. And it looked like the residency would fit very well with her organization."
"Talking Masks" is an evening of six short scripts that looks at life through the lens of women's experiences. "Runaway Honeymoon," drawn from slave narrative of William and Ellen Craft, recounts the escape of a husband and wife. Ellen was so "high-yellow" she posed as a White man traveling North with William as the slave. The protagonist of "White Girl From the Projects" grows up in a black, urban environment, resulting in one hell of a struggle for personal identity. In "Mother Love," a mother is interrogated in a police station about the murder of her son. Brown is an expert storyteller and a compelling dramatist. The thought of such subjects in the hands of someone as gifted as Brown is enough to have theater-goers who appreciate strong drama practically slobbering on themselves. The night's other titles are "The Human Voice," “The Diva Makes Her Entrance" and "The Talking Mask.”

In the summer, Lake will work with youngsters who participate in the Chicago Avenue Project—an arts mentorship program that pairs neighborhood youth with professional artists to create original theater. Lake will help young playwrights develop plays using music. The plays will be presented under the title of "You Snooze - You Lose" on August 30 and 31. Lake will also work closely with the theater's improvisational company, Breaking Ice, conducting spoken word/poetry workshops for the Breaking Ice Acting Company. Lake looks forward to working with the students. "I'm excited to see what happens," he says. "Because it's gonna [be great] to see the students I'm going to be working with. I have worked often with students before. In Tucson and other places. They were studying music, though. I like the idea of the difference. Of working with non-musical students. And designing music for their plays. It's also a chance to create some spoken word with students."

The world premiere of Carlyle Brown's "Talking Masks" with music by Oliver Lake opens on May 14 and runs through May 29 on Wednesdays through Saturdays, 7:30 p.m. at Pillsbury House Theatre, 3501 Chicago Avenue South, Minneapolis. Ticket prices: $15 (Thursday - Saturday), Wednesday @ The House (pay what you can every Wednesday). For tickets call Pillsbury House Theatre Box Office:
at 612-825-0459.