This 'Gem' not too old to shine; Aunt Ester at Arena Stage.(ARTS & CULTURE)(THEATER)

0 Comments | Washington Times, The, February, 2007

Byline: Jayne Blanchard, THE WASHINGTON TIMES Devotees of playwright August Wilson's decade-by-decade depiction of struggle and emerging identity among 20th-century black Americans have been itching for Aunt Ester to come out from the wings ever since she was first mentioned in 1992's "Two Trains Running." Aunt Ester a spiritual matriarch in Pittsburgh's Hill District neighborhood who is older than slavery and, as a Colonial bill of sale indicates, older than America itself is also evoked in Mr.

Wilson's plays "Seven Guitars," "King Hedley II" and "Radio Golf." She finally appears, 285 years old and in the vibrant flesh, in "Gem of the Ocean," which is receiving its local premiere at Arena Stage under the clear-cut direction of the United Kingdom's Paulette...