‘Talented Tenth’ Looks at Upper-Class Blacks

Black angst. African American anomie. Racial rage. Richard Wesley’s “The Talented Tenth,” at the Hudson Avenue Theatre, examines such frustrations, not from the perspective of society’s bottom rung but from the lofty aeries of the African American elite. From this fresh vantage point, Wesley makes a compelling statement about the guilts, doubts and compromises of those African Americans who have escaped the soul-deadening grind of economic marginalism and achieved--at least ostensibly--the American dream.

The title of the play derives from W.E.B. Dubois’ supposition that the “Negro race” would be saved by its most educated and accomplished members (a contention to which playwright August Wilson took notable exception in a controversial speech last year).

The action, which flashes back and forth in time from the 1960s to the present, spans the life and career of Bernard Evans (Clifton Powell), a successful African American radio executive whose midlife crisis has reached critical mass. A civil rights activist and Howard University graduate, Bernard is hired fresh out of college by pioneer black businessman Sam Griggs (Robert Guillaume) and has risen within the ranks of Griggs’ radio empire to his present state of prosperity and power. Now, an unexpected career crisis--and renewed guilt over a long-lost love--cause Bernard to painfully reevaluate his life.

Increasingly volatile and disenchanted, Bernard becomes progressively alienated from his wife Pam (Claudette Roche), his friends (Juanita Jennings, Ellis E. Williams and Basil Wallace) and even his mistress (Samaria Graham), a tenacious young woman who wants Bernard for her own.

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Wesley, author of “The Mighty Gents,” tends to thematically overstate his provocative but flawed drama. Bernard, Wesley’s philosophical mouthpiece, is far too apt to reiterate his emotions and disappointments ad nauseam, despite his purported reticence.

Also, Wesley is digressive to a fault, introducing fascinating but distracting subplots that threaten to derail the main thrust of his work. And Wesley shorthands Bernard’s transition from increasingly self-destructive basket-case to self-affirmed visionary--an 11th-hour apotheosis that seems unmotivated.

However, underneath the avoirdupois, one can clearly see the streamlined structure of a very good play--possibly even a great one. Wesley’s dialogue is epigrammatically brilliant, his drama far-ranging and moving, his themes universal.

Director Oz Scott, who has assembled a powerhouse cast of wonderfully naturalistic actors, keeps the action humming despite the play’s overlong three hours. Victoria Profitt’s sets and Vess Weaver’s lighting are unobtrusively effective. Scott does need to fine-tune the otherwise fine performances of Powell, Roche and Graham, who are often inaudible in their more intimate scenes, but Guillaume is a revelation as Griggs, the scrappy, dignified media mogul whose moral convictions, though sorely tested, have survived a lifetime of compromise.

* “The Talented Tenth,” Hudson Avenue Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Feb. 16. $15-$20. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 3 hours, 5 minutes.