Theater review: Down in Mississippi, the summer of ’64 is hot

Way down in Mississippi, goes the song, waaaaayyy down, as though that state is far removed from any civilized society. As sung at the start of the play Down in Mississippi, a co-production of Kokopelli Theatre, the Living Room Theatre, and the William Inge Foundation, the gospel tune sets a mood. That being: in 1964, Mississippi is indeed a terrifying place.

It was the time of the Freedom Summer campaign, when young civil rights workers, white and black, traveled from the North to the Deep South to register blacks to vote, a basic constitutional act denied them by Southern whites, who were violently invested in the status quo. Both Southern black citizens who braved registering and civil rights workers courted enormous personal risk. (Three workers were found murdered that same summer in Philadelphia, Mississippi.)

In this new play, Minnesota-based playwright Carlyle Brown weaves in historical context and facts and gospel songs with the story of three such volunteers: college student Jimmy (DeAngelo Davis), Quaker-raised John (Mike Ott) and college student Ellen (Elise Poehling) — who, for different reasons and needs, travel to Mississippi to take part in the voter-registration campaign. 

According to American Theatre, Brown lived through “the heady days of the civil rights struggle,” and here, he personalizes the ranks of these “soldiers,” writing with perceptiveness and precision, as though he too were there. 

The actors give deeply dimensional portrayals, and the intimate confines of the production space (the Pearl, at 1715 Wyandotte) adds intensity. While the script, at first, leans toward a didactic tone, the play seamlessly transitions into a moving, absorbing tale. Like a Greek chorus, singer Enjoli Gavin, accompanied by guitarist and music director Ben Byard, adds a thematic commentary to the telling. (She also appears briefly as civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.) 

The script’s sudden change of setting confuses slightly a couple of times, and characters occasionally use anachronistic slang, but these don’t distract from the story’s flow. Director Rusty Sneary, utilizing few props on a stark stage (Nicole Jaja’s definitive lighting adds complexity), effectively harnesses the play’s pieces and stages a powerful production. 

Freedom is a constant struggle, they sing near the end … a constant trying … a constant crying … a constant dying. They know that the simple, free act of voting their interests, a right for which they fight and sacrifice, has a significant impact on the world around them. 

Down in Mississippi. Through May 6 at the Pearl (1715 Wyandotte); tickets at thelivingroomkc.com; May 11 at the William Inge Theater Festival, Independence, Kansas, ingecenter.org