GSC’s Timely ‘No Child…’ Lauds Teachers And Showcases An A+ Solo Performance

‘No Child…’ — Written by Nilaja Sun. Directed by Pascale Florestal. Scenic Design by Cristina Todesco; Costume Design by Chelsea Kerl; Lighting Design by Amanda Fallon; Sound Design by Jacques Matellus. Presented by Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main St., Gloucester through August 23.

By Shelley A. Sackett

Playwright Nilaja Sun’s conventional tribute to the trials and tribulations of our unsung heroes who day after day teach the toughest kids at their toughest ages (high school) in the toughest neighborhoods is must-see theater for one reason— the luminous performance by its solo star, Valyn Lyric Turner.

Playing no fewer than a dozen roles, Turner is a whirling dervish of talent, her physicality and vitality hoisting the play from a ho-hum trope to a true tour de force.

The lights go up on Cristina Todesco’s deceptively simple set as a traditional version of “The Sun’s Gonna Shine in My Back Door Someday” sets the mood. Written as a song of hope during times of fear in 1901 by African-American Methodist minister Charles Albert Tindley, himself the son of slaves and a janitor, preacher and pastor, it serves as the show’s anthem and bookends the opening and closing scenes.

Jackson Baron Copeford, a janitor at Malcolm X High School, introduces himself as the story’s narrator. Setting the scene for the arrival of Ms. Sun, the protagonist, Baron mentions the school is situated in the poorest congressional district in the U.S., in the Bronx, where metal detectors and academically challenged youth share the space equally.

Before class, Ms. Sun, a struggling actor, has a conversation with her landlord about her late rent. She is about to teach a six-week workshop on Our Country’s Good, a play-within-a-play about convicts putting on the play The Recruiting Officer. Ms. Tam, a newly appointed and ineffectual teacher, introduces Ms. Sun to her English class of foul-mouthed, rowdy Grade 10 students.

The lessons begin. Ms. Sun earnestly sets out to teach her students to use theatrical techniques, like Method acting and vocal projection, to bring out the play’s themes. She is committed to getting these kids to relate to the script and open up about their lives. As she looks at the bars on the windows and reflects on her choice of a play, however, she wonders if maybe she didn’t choose something a little too close to home for comfort.

Janitor Baron, who functions as a Greek chorus of one, reflects on being the first black janitor at the school, and the long history he and it have shared through the political turmoil of the U.S., from the pristine institution that it once was to the neglected structure it has become.

Ms. Sun’s class is full of stereotypes, each of which Turner, under Pascale Florestal’s pitch-perfect, razor-sharp direction, embodies and delineates with the subtlest, most effective nuance. Giving each different vocal intonations and just a single physical trait (hair twirling, crotch-hugging slouch, scowl, dimpled solicitous smile), she makes us see clearly every colorful character: the leader Jerome, the flamboyant Shondrika, the nervous Chris, the doomed José.

For 75 intermission-less minutes, we ride shotgun as Ms. Sun perseveres against all odds to stage a successful production that transforms her and her students’ lives. Along the way, the audience is hit with vital, repetitive messages. Teaching is the world’s hardest and most important profession. Students will rise and fall based on the predetermined assessment and expectation of their instructors. The educational system is stacked against the have-nots that society has deemed throwaway and incapable of ever rising above their predestined station.

Yet, notwithstanding its polemical transparency, Sun’s sentimental and humorous dialogue and Turner’s performance (under Florestal’s direction) transform the one-woman show into an emotionally satisfying theatrical event. Turner is simply transfixing as she seamlessly melts from one character to the next, sometimes seemingly mid-sentence. A stand-out on every Boston stage she has graced, this is a showcase role she was born to play.

The show ends on an upbeat note and a glimmer of hope. Committed, skilled teachers who, despite the cards stacked against them and their students, care enough to sacrifice and invest actually can influence another’s life. Hard work pays off and the self-esteem it engenders is a true game changer. A little financial boost and a lot of faith and compassion can go a long way to opening the door of limitless options and mutual satisfaction.

In an epilogue that details the mostly rosy futures ahead of this class of 10^th graders and their teachers, Janitor Baron leaves us with the mantra, “The times they are a-changin’.” In these days of defunded public education and callous, cruel policymakers intent on widening the gulf between the haves and have-nots, it’s hard to hang onto the belief that those changes are for the better and not the worse.

Highly recommended for Turner’s not-to-be-missed performance.

For more information, visit gloucesterstage.com/