'Summer Breeze': tangled up in cliches

By Matt Windman

10:14 AM EDT, August 21, 2008

Leslie Uggams in "The First Breeze of Summer" by Leslie Lee; directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Richard Termine)

Long before August Wilson emerged as a leading African-American playwright, and a bit after "A Raisin in the Sun" stormed Broadway, the historic Negro Ensemble Company provided an essential outlet for the development of African-American drama. NEC alumni include actors such as Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson and Denzel Washington.

Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre Company, which traditionally dedicates each of its seasons to the work of one playwright, will instead revive three plays that were first produced by the company. First on the list is "The First Breeze of Summer," Lee Blessing's 1975 minor classic of a memory play.

Taking place over the course of a sweltering weekend in June, Gremmer (Leslie Uggams), who is in her seventies and the matriarch of a lower-middle-class African-American family, looks back on her past while contemplating its legacy for her children and grandchildren. In particular, we see Gremmer's pained experiences with the three different fathers of her children.

Unfortunately, this nearly three-hour long drama has not aged well. It feels like an unhealthy combination of "Sanford & Son" and unadulterated melodrama. In the midst of a jovial prayer meeting and birthday party, we watch an old lady attacked, a young lady raped, a brick thrown through a window, and so on. It's difficult to take all its musty family history and dramatic clichés seriously.

Nevertheless, Ruben Santiago-Hudson's solid production brims with vibrant ensemble energy and truthful acting. Most haunting are Ms. Uggams, who spends most of the play systematically fanning herself while staring blankly into space and remembering her troubled past, and Yaya Dacosta as Gremmer's delicate younger self. And for only twenty bucks, it's probably the best deal for quality theatergoing in town.

Signature Theatre, 555 West 42nd St, 212-244-7529, $20. Tues 7pm, Wed-Fri 8pm, Sat 2 & 8pm, Sun 2pm. Thru Sept 28.