Under the direction of Helen Hayes award winner Eric Ruffin, the Howard University Department of Theatre Arts production of Big White Fog by Theodore Ward was a startling and invigorating revelation. The first revelation was the 1938 play itself. Director Ruffin has noted that the piece has been mounted only four times. So, it was surprising to find that while the subject matter and the issues in the play were challenging — as you’d expect of any drama worth the effort to produce — the texture and structure of the play were hypnotically engaging in a way that delighted and rewarded the audience’s attention. You might expect a play from the 1930s to have language that is pompous or stilted, outmoded, or overly decorative. But the language of Big White Fog is rigorous, precise, and almost musical. When arguments erupted and simultaneous conversations overlapped, it was like listening to musical instruments playing counterpoint with each other in duets, trios, quartets, and at times a full orchestra on display. The cast of 15 student performers ate it up and — as the current saying goes — left no crumbs. Scene from ‘Big White Fog.’ Photo courtesy of Eric Ruffin. A second revelation was those seamless, energetic, and confident performances the students gave in a piece that required a kind of old-fashioned and sustained characterization that you don’t see in modern plays. I was especially impressed with the smooth transformations of Alaysia Lawson (as Caroline Mason) and Jordan Leander (as Phillip Mason) growing from young children into high school students and Diezel Braxton-Lewis (as Lester Mason) growing from a high school graduate to a young adult and revolutionary community organizer. Both Joshua Leggett as patriarch Victor Mason and Nia Potter as Ella Mason gave us clear portraits of how the relationship between the matriarch and patriarch of the family is worn down by invisible forces maintained by a society. Big White Fog is a timely play. From Director Ruffin’s notes: “Theodore Ward uses the metaphor of fog … to dramatize the experience of urban Black people in America living in a gray fog caused by their continuous fight against white supremacy.” The Mason family has “hope.” Patriarch Victor Mason believes in the possibilities for prosperity and self-celebration among Black people as articulated by Marcus Garvey. At the beginning of the play he invests the money he and his wife Ella have painfully saved up in shares of Garvey’s Black Star Line. Ella’s brother-in-law Dan believes in capitalism. He tries to convince Victor to invest in kitchenettes to rent to other Black folk. Lester, Ella and Victor’s oldest son, a budding socialist, has just been accepted into a college and is awaiting a letter confirming his scholarship. Then: Lester is refused admittance and a scholarship because it is discovered that he is Black. The Great Depression arrives and things go downhill to the point that the family is about to be evicted from their rented home. The play ends as the sheriffs, who have begun the eviction process, shoot Victor when he resists being evicted. The sheriffs stand down as a large racially diverse crowd — comrades of Lester, who has matured and become more active and engaged in communal organizing — has gathered to oppose the eviction and the shooting. The contingent of neighbors bound together in solidarity win the day this time. This may be a reason this play has been performed as little as it has. The chorus in ‘Big White Fog.’ Photo courtesy of Eric Ruffin. Ruffin stages the production so that the naturalistic action is framed by a chorus who dance during intervals between scenes. In addition, instead of the entry to the Masons’ apartment being in some realistic space on the stage, the entry has been placed downstage facing the audience. At every entrance the actor breaks the fourth wall and looks directly at the audience. Each character’s approach to the entry shows how weighted down they are by the big white-supremacy fog and what their attitude is to it. The Howard production makes a good argument for reviving this play and searching out other plays that Ward has written for the possibility of producing them as well. It also makes a good argument for attending college and theater productions where you can catch productions that no other space can profitably mount. Running Time: Approximately two hours and 20 minutes with a 15-minute intermission. Big White Fog played November 7 to 16, 2024, presented by The Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre Arts at The Ira Aldridge Theater on the campus of Howard University, 2455 6th Street, NW Washington, DC. Big White Fog By Theodore Ward Directed by Eric Ruffin CAST Harper: Alexis Anosike Count Stawder/Officer: Uchenna Ukonu Nathan: Yisrael Robinson Caroline Mason: Alaysia Lawson Count Cotton/Black Nurse: Tashi Mhoon-Cooper Victor Mason: Joshua Leggett Ella Mason: Nia Potter Martha Dupree: Amauriah “Mars” Davis Percy Mason: Tyler “T” Lang Claudine: Nandi Talton Juanita: Mahlaet Gebreyesus Daniel: Kevoy Sommerville Lester Mason: Diezel Braxton-Lewis Wanda Mason: Elyse Miller Phillip Mason: Jordan Leander Bailiff/Lieutenant: Derrell J. Smith Officer: Jamal “Avinah” Richardson Officer: William Webb CREATIVE TEAM Lighting Design: Trinity Joseph Scenic Design: Kathryn Kawecki, Tiffani Sydnor Costume Design: Brandee Mathis Sound Design: Rashad Davis Production Stage manager: Kaitlyn Dorsey Asst. Stage Manager: Noelle mcDougl Stage Manager: Courtney Morgan Asst. Stage Manager: Niara Phillips Lighting Design Supervisor: Prof. Anthony Gomes Master Electrician: Thelonious “Tony” Starnes Scenic Fabrication: Prof. Gregory Jackson Asst. Costume Designer: Jordyn Packer, Tabitha Strakes