“Miss Anderson, your next word … is
triskaidekaphobia.*”
As 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson’s eyes widen and fists clench
in concentration, theatergoers are on the edge of their
chairs in what feels like front-row seats at a spelling bee.
“Akeelah and the Bee,” a fresh and polished production by the
Children’s Theatre Company, addresses themes of race, class
and family while it centers on a spelling prodigy and the
obstacles she overcomes to compete in the Scripps National
Spelling Bee.
Coming to Arena Stage in Washington after its premiere run in
Minneapolis, the play is sprinkled with more unusual words
than a master Scrabble player could wield.
The play was adapted by Cheryl West from Doug Atchison’s 2006
film and begins with Akeelah, played by Johannah Easley,
praying to God to bless her hard-working mother and
big-hearted but delinquent brother. The family lives in a
poor, predominantly African-American neighborhood, where
regular gang violence is responsible for the death of
Akeelah’s father.
Her father is remembered as a kind and intelligent man who
excelled at crossword puzzles and fed his daughter’s love of
language and brain vault of spelling words.
After his death, his wife, Gail, played by Aimee Bryant,
works to keep food on the table and her son out of the
alluring neighborhood gangs. Unlike his logophile sister,
teenage Reggie, played by Nathan Barlow, struggles with his
letters along with finding and keeping a job.
Coaching Akeelah as she progresses to the nation’s top
spelling bee is Dr. Joshua Larabee – played effortlessly by
James Williams – a dignified professorial type who has
endured his own losses. A good portion of the play includes
Dr. Larabee and Akeelah’s sparring – a demonstration of the
student’s feistiness and Dr. Larabee’s efforts to channel it
toward successful spelling.
Dr. Larabee grew up in Akeelah’s neighborhood and squelched
his chance to become top speller in the nation when he
punched a contestant who called him a racial slur. He wants
to help Akeelah become a word whizz but also to discover her
own strength, strength he didn’t have as he confronted
racism.
During one lesson in his study, he tells Akeelah to read a
plaque on the wall.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,” Akeelah
reads. “Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond
measure.”
Dr. Larabee then asks her, “What if … you were so
powerful and courageous that all those who laugh now will one
day want to be you?”
“Who would wanna be me? Half the time I don’t even wanna be
me,” says Akeelah.
“Don’t you ever bully yourself in my presence,” responds Dr.
Larabee. “You will stand in your power, which starts by
standing up straight and being focused on the goal at hand.”
Akeelah focuses but also stumbles, and her community rallies
around her and gives her the boost she needs. As they unite
to help – the kindly drunk, the immigrant shopkeeper’s
daughter, the gospel-singing, overbearing neighbor – they
emerge better for it.
Like in West’s “Pullman Porter Blues,” the script teeters on
stereotyping but recovers by adding just enough depth to
characters to give them dimension.
Easley is charming as Akeelah, although at times she could
tone down her projection.
Ana Christine Evans is a standout as she juggles three
spelling-contestant roles, playing a Texan, a mohawk-sporting
speller and Trish, Akeelah’s endearing, adorably enthusiastic
friend with a speech
The set is sparse, with large, movable rectangular cubes
shifting the scene from study to inner-city neighborhood to
spelling bee stage. The director uses the playgoers as part
of the set and blurs the line between stage and audience,
having cast members sit in front-row seats and walk down the
aisles.
The championship round is filmed by a cameraman, and the
images are projected on large screens -evoking the feeling of
a live televised bee.
Thus, when Akeelah takes a deep breath and tackles the
seven-syllable word, theatergoers are caught up in the moment
and can’t help hoping she nails every letter.
(*Triskaidekaphobia means “fear of the number 13.” Kudos if
you knew that.)
If you go
“Akeelah and the Bee,” suitable for all but the youngest
children, runs through Dec. 27 at Arena Stage in Washington.
For tickets and more information, go to arenastage.com
Arena Stage’s Pay Your Age program offers ticket prices that
correspond to theatergoers’ age for patrons under 30 years
old.
