‘Radio Golf’: Dream or Conflict Deferred?

Theater Review

Pursuing a dream often involves some sort of conflict’moral, political or social. And in theater, part of what makes the evolution (or dissolution) of that dream interesting to watch is seeing a character struggle with this conflict. August Wilson’s “Radio Golf,” playing at the Mark Taper Forum, is a play built on the conflict of whether history can be preserved and integrated into the present and future. The final drama in Wilson’s 10-play cycle chronicling African American life in the 20th century (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson”) “Radio Golf,” is set in the 1990s in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. The main character, Harmond Wilks (Rocky Carroll), is a gentle and optimistic real estate developer working on an urban renewal project in the city. He imagines great potential for the dilapidated Hill District and wants to lead the citizens to success in more ways than one; he plans to run for mayor. Wilks sets up shop in an abandoned, warehouse-like building and makes time for the neighborhood personalities who come in off the street looking for work or someone to listen, in part because he is just that kind of guy but also because he’s genuinely interested in the history of the area. He gets excited about his idea to name the pharmacy in the mixed-use housing and retail complex after the city’s first African American registered nurse. Less enthused about preserving a piece of history or instilling meaning in the building project are his practical, campaign-manager wife Mame Wilks (Denise Burse) and his business partner Roosevelt Hicks (James A. Williams). Both are on the fast path to success, and Hicks is most concerned with how he can make the most money off the project. Perhaps the only thing that Wilks and Hicks really have in common is a passion for golf, but where Hicks reveres Tiger Woods, Wilks is inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. Ultimately, Hicks lands a deal with a shady business man, to host a radio show about golf, which symbolically separates him further from his black history. Hicks succeeds in presenting a conflict for Wilks because the friends have such opposing values and goals, but Mame Wilks has less purpose. Perhaps this is why Burse’s stage presence is not heavily felt. Two of the most dynamic characters in the play are Elder Joseph Barlow (Anthony Chisholm) and Sterling Johnson (John Earl Jelks), two Hill District natives and the real heart and soul of the neighborhood. They aren’t about to see their community pulled out from under their feet, even though they don’t have the money or resources to fight it. Barlow comes to Wilks with a story to tell and ends up telling several before revealing that he is more than just a lonely old man who carries memories of the past proudly on his shoulders; he claims to own one of the old homes scheduled to be demolished in the redevelopment project. Chisholm, who has performed in several other Wilson plays, brings a good balance of mystery, wisdom and humor to this character, though at times his lines are lost in his well-crafted but raspy and often fast-paced storytelling voice. The real star of the show is Jelks as the friendly but bold Johnson, who seeks construction work but has more than that to give. “You livin’ in a world where life don’t matter,” Johnson tells Wilks when he pathetically tries to give Barlow money for the house. Jelks delivers the “What you got?” speech against Hicks in a particularly powerful and moving way, reminding us that the voice of the little man is sometimes the bigger one. Ultimately, both Johnson and Barlow are there to teach Wilks not only about what kind of mayor he wants to be but, more importantly, about what kind of man and American he wants to be. The only problem is that Wilks gets the message too fast, or rather, it seems like he never struggles between what is right and what is wrong. The conflict is there but he knows all along what he will do and never really falls off the moral path; even his gesture to pay Barlow for the home seems like a false, temporary solution until he can pick up the phone to call off the demolition. The production’s elaborate set with golden lighting and intricately designed abandoned shops that hang in the darkness of the wings forms an identity of its own (scenic design by David Gallo), with walls that reverberate with the past after the last word is spoken. August Wilson’s “Radio Golf,” directed by Kenny Leon, runs through September 18 at the Mark Taper Forum, 135 Grand Ave. Tickets are $34 to $52. Contact: (213) 628-2772.