Hell in a Handbag productions are the gaudiest you'll find in Chicago, with camp parodies ranging from Golden Girls to a revisioning of A Miracle Worker, with a drag queen Helen Keller.
The company returns with a remount of its 2013 production of L'Imitation of Life, playwright Ricky Graham's take on the film of ( almost ) the same name, Imitation of Life. It has frills and melodrama, but it also puts the struggles of poor women of color at the forefront and defends any woman who must subvert cultural norms just to get by.
This parody of the 1959 film follows two single mothers as they struggle to raise their daughters. Annie Johnson ( Robert Williams ) is an African-American mother who has been turned out of her home with her light-skinned daughter. She meets Lana Turner ( Ed Jones, as the production opts to skip the character name in Turner's case ), a widow and struggling actress with a daughter of her own. The four successfully cohabit, with Lana acting as breadwinner, and Annie as maid and caretaker for both daughters. Trouble comes as Lana achieves stardom, and the girls enter their teens. Lana's daughter, Suzie, falls for one of her mother's boy toys, and Sara Jane, having seen how the other half lives, wants to disown her mother and take every advantage afforded her when passing as white.
Windy City Times asked director Stevie Love, and actors Robert Williams and Ed Jones, who portray this productions' leading ladies to tell us what makes this show unique and relevant to theatergoers today. "We did this show five years ago, and we had a white woman playing the role of a Black character, Sara Jane," Stevie Love said of the remount. "We wanted to make sure that would not be the case for this production. We needed a person of color in the role. We also wanted two women to play Sarah Jane and Suzie, it brings something new and real to the world."
Robert Williams reveled in the down-to-earthness of the role of Annie. "Playing this chocolate skinned woman who is not able to hide her ethnicity, obviously, in my growing up, being an American, there is all kinds of weight to that, "Williams said, "Annie has to help a child who, though she doesn't understand how the world works, still understands enough about the unfair way they're treated."
As Lana Turner, Ed Jones is both living out a fan dream and honoring a friend who introduced him to the film. "This is one of my favorite movies. I was reintroduced to it by my gay, movie-buff friend, Kevin," Jones said. "Kevin was there for my first drag role, and he was very encouraging. We lost Kevin to the AIDS epidemic, but I am dedicating my performance to him."
Love, Williams and Jones are all Hell in a Handbag Productions alumni and have returned for countless shows. "We do parodies of movies and subjects we love," said Jones. "We don't ever make fun of them, we truly enjoy these parodies because we love the subject matter and who were portraying." Williams became an ensemble member after he was cast in his very first Chicago production. "They're a big group of freaks, and I am happy to be one among them," Williams said. "For them, being different is a positive, never a negative."
For these seasoned performers, their production blurs the boundaries between camp and realism. "You can't perform in this show, you've to the be the character," said Williams. "Annie and her daughter are the real people in this incredible fantasy world."
"You will laugh, but beyond that, you'll feel torn about your place in the world like Sara Jane, or you might question the things in your life that perpetuate racism," said Love.
"I hope that our audiences are inspired to check out the original film," Jones said. "Anyone who hasn't seen it would gain an appreciation for it. The movie had its' premiere in Chicago, and the Hollywood story surrounding the production is really captivating."
Hell in a Handbag Production's L'Imitation of Life runs April 7-May 6 at the Stage 773 at 1225 W. Belmont Ave. For tickets and more information, visit Stage773.com .