‘The Old Settler’ journeys down implied path

Old Settler – a woman who

is pushing 40, who’s never

been married and has no prospects.

This is the definition given

in John Henry Redwood’s “The

Old Settler” in which Elizabeth,

an old, old settler (think the above

definition, but add 15 years) and

her sister Quilly rent a room to a

young man, Husband, who is new

to Harlem. Despite the fact that

Husband has come to Harlem to

find his girl Lou Bessie, a romance

inexplicably blooms between the

young man and Elizabeth, much

to the consternation of Quilly and

Lou Bessie. Elizabeth is forced to

choose between her love of Husband,

and the prejudices of those

around her that a young man

could ever truly love a woman of

Elizabeth’s age.

At first the script feels clever

and endearing. A back-story that

clearly colors the sister’s relationship

is hinted at, but the audience

is left to fill in the blanks. A love

interest is expected, and a very

charming interlude is provided.

The act ends with a great build

up of suspense and picks up in

the second act when the aforementioned

back-story explodes

between the sisters with a rush

of pent-up emotions and bad

blood. However, it turns out that

those hints in the first act are

actually Redwood’s entire hand

because the bad blood turns out

to be exactly what is expected. The

sweet predictability of the first act

becomes resigned disappointment

as the storyline continues

down the implied path without

a single twist or turn for interest.

It’s not a bad road to travel down;

it is well performed and enjoyable.

Just know that you’re on the kiddie-

coaster, not Space Mountain.

The relationship between the

two sisters is marvelous. Ruby

Hinds as Elizabeth and Jolie Oliver

as Quilly have one of those

relationships that you only see

between family members, because

if they didn’t share blood they

would have killed each other or

parted company long ago. Elizabeth

is the resigned caretaker of

her younger sister who whines or

finagles her way out of doing her

share of the chores, all the while

fussing about anything and everything

that comes her way. Oliver

accentuates every gripe with the

exclamation, “Shoot!” and with

her varied deliveries it never

ceases to garner a laugh. Both

of the sisters are well developed

and Hinds and Oliver both deliver

nuanced performances that speak

depths beyond the words that

they utter.

John R. Davidson, as

Husband, has a fine performance.

Unfortunately, the script leaves his

character pretty two-dimensional.

He’s a naïve mama’s boy from the

backwoods of South Carolina.

Lou Bessie, played by Crystal Garrett,

has a little bit more dimension

to her, but Garrett has too

many modern day mannerisms

to pass for a 1940’s woman. When

she demonstrates her dance moves

while talking about going down to

the Savoy to do the Lindy Hop, it

becomes questionable whether

she has ever actually seen anybody

dance the Lindy Hop, much less

dance it herself.

Despite the predictability of the

script, there are some very funny

and very touching moments. An

underlying theme of the prejudices

against African Americans in the

early 40’s is eye opening simply in

its prevalence within their day-today

lives. They speak of it, not in

outrage, but frustration. A frustration

that no matter what they do or

where they go, this plague of racism

clings to them to try to keep them

down. But there is a resiliency that

exists beside this scourge that creates

a sense of hope. Hope that

one day things will be better.

Kat Michels is a two-time

regional Emmy award-winning

writer with an AAS in video production

and a BFA in theatre.