Jan 19

Jan 19 Lighting Black Lives

‘Rabbit Summer’ Tells the Unheard and Unseen Stories of African American Life

By Hamil R. Harris

“Rabbit Summer” is part of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival. It will be at Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mt. Rainer, Maryland, until January 28, and tickets are $25. This is a comfortable venue that gives the audience the impression that they are all house guests.

Pictured above: Jeremy Keith Hunter (Wilson) and Michelle Proctor Rogers (Ruby) Photo: Angelisa Gillyard

Tamieka Chavis (Claire) Photo: Angelisa Gillyard

In this age of social media and synthetic entertainment, “Rabbit Summer” is a fresh and compelling display of gifted actors who burn up a Mount Rainier stage. “We set out to produce theater to address systemic oppression in America,” said Ivana “Tai” Alexander, managing director of the Ally Theatre Company.

Alexander co-founded Ally a year ago with Tai Hallmark, the artistic director of the play. “We have a tagline that is illuminating voices that are unheard and spaces that are unseen,” she said. “It really is about telling stories that don’t get told.”

Written by actress Tracey Conyer Lee of New York, “Rabbit Summer” is billed as a tragic comedy that explores the fault lines that can disrupt marriages and friendships. The story is set in what could be any home of an African American middle-class family.

Wilson is a police officer with a beautiful wife, Ruby. He thinks the summer is perfect for taking time off to expand the family while their daughter is away at camp.

During this time, their marriage’s intimacy and communication issues come to light. Ruby wishes her husband would share more than a bedroom. He wants a son, but she makes sure this won’t happen. And things get even more complicated when her friend, Claire, moves in after her husband is fatally shot by a white cop.

These characters are faced with current events and long-standing challenges. The actors’ interpretation on their characters are explored throughout the narrative.

Jeremy Keith Hunter (Wilson). PHOTO: Angelisa Gillyard

Michelle Rogers (Ruby) has her character figured out.

“She thinks that she has everything under her control, and she wants to change the world,” said Rogers, an actress of more than 2O years despite having a day job. “She thinks that she can tell these pretty little lies but, it all comes crashing down on her.” In real life, Rogers is an attorney, “But this is my love, this is my passion.”

Jeremy Keith Hunter is a veteran actor who is in sync with Wilson, the husband, father, police officer who carries the burden of these roles. “I relate to the character so much because there is a ton of stuff that affects me that hurts, that is painful, and a lot of times I choose not to show it,” Hunter said. “I want people to walk away knowing that it’s okay to cry and you should not suppress things that hurt you.”

Tameika Chavis (Claire), is a graduate of Suitland High School and the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Georgetown. Her character is the play’s most complicated. Claire is a widow whose husband was killed by a white police officer.

“Claire was someone who I was looking forward to telling her story,” Chavis said. “The widows of police shootings, you see them in news conferences, but you never get to see them behind closed doors and the heartache and frustration of justice not being served.”