Image:  L-R: Denise Burse and Deborah Joy Winans -photo Jeff Lorch

Pearl Cleage’s “Angry, Raucous, And Shamelessly Gorgeous”  Lights Up The Geffen Playhouse Stage

 Center Stage With…

 Lady Beverly Cohn

 Pearl Cleage is a highly gifted African-American playwright, essayist, novelist, and poet who has earned both popular and critical acclaim.  With too many works to list, here a few of her plays:  Bourbon at the Border, Late Bus to Mecca, Flyin’ West, Blues for Alabama Sky, What I Learned in Paris, Chain, and The Nacirema Society which brings us to Angry, Raucous, And Shamelessly Gorgeous in its Los Angeles Premiere at the Geffen Playhouse under the highly skilled direction of LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

The storyline of a younger actress replacing the aging one is not new as in All About Eve or Black Swan where the maturing star must face the limitations imposed upon her as she is forced to move out of leading roles into sometimes lesser older roles.  This is a painful transition and one that we see unfold in Cleage’s soulful script.  The action begins in Scenic Designer Beowulf Boritt’s swanky hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia where Betty Samson wonderfully played by Denise Burse is quietly playing Solitaire. 

A steady calming voice, she is awaiting the appearance of Anna Campbell for whom she has been manager and best friend throughout her acting career.  When ageism marked the downward spiral of her profession, she and Anna decided to leave the country and moved to Amsterdam where she had received an offer as artist-in-residence.  They have just arrived back in America after 30 years of living abroad, but in reality Anna hasn’t worked in two years and is broke.  Splendidly characterized by Charlayne Woodard, who mines the complex layers of her character, she plays a woman in her 60s who has not come to grips with the reality of her professional standing.

L-R: Denise Burse, Deborah Joy Winans, Charlayne Woodard and Olivia Washington-photo Jeff Lorch

The “Grande Dame” makes a dramatic entrance wearing one of the exquisite outfits by Costume Designer Emilio Sosa.  Looking around the elegant suite, she quotes that iconic line: “What A Dump!” spoken by Bette Davis as Rosa Moline in Beyond The Forest and worried about money, quotes Vivien Leigh’s Blanche DuBois “I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers,” a line etched into theatrical history from A Streetcar Named Desire. Anna is under the erroneous impression that she was invited to return to America to perform her infamous Naked Wilson theatre piece, an homage to August Wilson. In reality, she was invited to this theatre festival to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award by the organizer, an old colleague and friend Kate Hughes, nicely developed by Deborah Joy Winans.  As events surrounding her misunderstanding of her role in this festival slowly unfolds, we begin to see the cracks in her bravado demeanor and her difficulty in accepting an award vs. performing her seminal piece which she has always done sans clothing.  On learning about Anna’s expectation to perform, Kate, who is also worried that the festival might be rained out, has to walk a tightrope on how to delicately inform the diva of the truth - that the role was now slated to be performed by a very young and beautiful Precious “Pete” Watson who is basically a stripper and pole dancer without any theatrical experience.

In contrasting the age difference between the two women, the actress is always dressed to the nines while the younger woman shows up wearing a sexy denim outfit with matching denim boots, immediately dramatizing their generational differences through their attire.  Olivia Washington immerses herself in that role and squeezes out every drop of nuances of the character, from being awed by a once-famous star to becoming insecure about the project and then ultimately defiantly standing up for her right to perform the monologue.  An amusing scene between the two of them is when Anna bluntly tells Pete that she is not fit to perform the role and actually makes an anonymous phone call to the Office of Public Indecency to complain about what actually hasn’t happened yet.  Not discouraged, and with a rebellious attitude, the young performer dresses herself in a beautiful red evening gown, finds her way to the rooftop of what turns out to be Margaret Mitchell’s home, now a museum, and sings a song that goes viral.  Another unfriendly exchange between Pete and Anna is when the young emerging star tells her “No offense, but you’re too old to do this piece.”  Eventually there is a meeting of the minds where good decisions emerge with interesting arcs to the characters.  Cleage’s play illuminates several themes: The struggle of being relevant in a youth-obsessed culture and knowing when it’s time to face the reality of your career so you can retire or transition with dignity.  Most importantly, having a good friend who will help you navigate as you sail through the rocky sea of inevitable change.

L-R:  Charlayne Woodard, Denise Burse, and Deborah Joy Winans -photo Jeff Lorch

This is pretty much a flawless production but that said, there are some script problems in that there is a lot of verbal exposition or backstory which became draggy at times. My preference is always to show me the action theatrically rather than telling me the circumstances verbally.  The former is fluid while the latter is wordy and doesn’t advance the visuals.  That notwithstanding, this is a Class A production which under Jackson’s astute direction, gifts us with fully realized performances from a highly-professional cast.  Stir in the production values from Lap Chi Chu’s Lighting Design and Jeff Gardner’s Sound to Hana S. Kim’s exciting Projections, you have highly skilled  performances which are enhanced by the visually stunning look of the play. 

L-R:  Charlayne Woodard and Olivia Washington -photo Jeff Lorch

The playwright illuminates the struggle of being relevant in a youth-obsessed culture and knowing when it’s time to face the reality of your career so you can withdraw with dignity and grace.  Of equal importance is having a good friend who will help you sail through the rocky sea of change.  

All photos by Jeff Lorch.

ANGRY, RAUCOUS, AND SHAMELESSLY GORGEOUS

Gil Cates Theater  at Geffen Playhouse

10886 Le Conte Avenue,

Los Angeles, CA 90024

Written By:  Pearl Cleage

Directed By: LaTanya Richardson Jackson

Produced in Association with Black Rebirth Collective

Genre:  Dramedy 

Performance Schedule:

Monday, Tuesday: No performance

Wednesday & Thursday: 7:30 p.m.

Friday:      8:00 p.m.

Saturday: 3:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.

Sunday:  2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Run Time: 1 hour & 40 minutes, no intermission

Closing:  July 12, 2026 

Tickets: $36-$139

Box Office:  310.208.2028

Online: www.geffenplayhouse.org.