Touching on themes of kinship, perseverance and atonement, August Wilson’s play Gem of the Ocean brings forward the story of how African Americans held onto community during the tumultuous migrations of the Jim Crow era. The character Aunt Ester, played by dramaturg Nikki Clay, claims to be 235 years old, which places her as one of the first Africans to arrive in a mainland English colony as human cargo. She is the lifeline of memory that connects characters in the present experiencing civil unrest to that of the past. Clay says, “My personal experience with the production has revealed itself as a story of love. A pursuit of love in the form of redemption and freedom.”
WHO: UGA Theatre
WHERE: UGA Fine Arts Theatre
WHEN: Apr. 14–16, 20–23, 8 p.m. & Apr. 24, 2:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $12–$16
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