The Review: The Public Theater’s Mlina’s Tale
By Ross
We are greeting with facts and figures as we climb the stairs to the Martinson Theater at the Public. All of them, focusing on the debilitating international ivory trade that is destroying Africa’s wildlife, specifically the elephant population. The first reads: “1 Elephant is killed every 15 minutes“, a devastating statistic, but that is just the first of many. Mlimas Tale, written by Pulitzer Prize winning Lynn Nottage, the wizard behind such dramas as Ruined and Sweat, is the lyrically beautiful and disturbing tale of the tusk told in a superbly orchestrated La Ronde style structure of pairs. It’s crafted with such empathy and wisdom, determined to tell the step by step tale of the “Ivory Highway“, starting with the powerful Mlima, portrayed by the impressive and statuesque Sahr Ngaujah (Fela!) and ending in a rich man’s home on display for all to see.
As directed by Jo Bonney (Public’s Some People) with an sympathetic eye for detail and human complexities, the journey is a step by step process on characters basically up the financial food chain from the land to the penthouse. Each layer is assisted by three players; Itos Aghayere (PH’s Familiar), Jojo Gonzalez (Ars Nova’s Small Mouth Sounds), and Kevin Mambo (Public’s The Fortress of Solitude), taking on numerous parts with an ease that is both brilliant and realistic. Wrapping themselves around the problem “that is easy to turn into slogans” (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director, Public), scenic designer Riccardo Hernandez (Public’s Miss You Like Hell), with solid assistance from costume designer, Jennifer Moeller (Public’s Tiny Beautiful Things), lighting designer Lap Chi Chu (Public’s Oedipus El Rey), and sound designer Darron L West (Public’s King Lear) continue their magnificent work at The Public Theater, finding the essence of the story and presenting it most engeniously. The spectacle is further enhanced with the beautifully engaging music performed by composer and music director Justine Hicks (Prophetika: An Oratorio), transporting us country to country with an ease and mystical air that only furthers the tragedy being addressed. The over all effect is powerful and moving, guiding us through the web of human forces that make up the problematic and illegal industry of poaching. Mlina’s Tale doesn’t try to solve the difficult issue, as it is far too complex to tackle within this presentation, but the white streaked imagery will leave us all stained as we take in the grandness of this animal and the profound emotional response to his death, feeling in someway complicit in the global dynamic.
front mezz junkies 
[…] Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Admissions Cost of Living Hangmen The Low Road Mlima’s Tale […]
LikeLike
[…] Music in a Play Imogen Heap, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Justin Hicks, Mlima’s Tale, the Public Theater Amatus Karim-Ali, The Homecoming Queen, Atlantic Theater Company Justin […]
LikeLike
[…] on the raw plank floorboards of the perfect staging designed by Riccardo Hernández (Public’s Mlima’s Tale). But as the Putney Debate flails forward gathering steam and heading towards no where, the out of […]
LikeLike
[…] Toulouise-Lautrec, played majestically by the delightful and soulful Sahr Ngaujah (Public’s Mlima’s Tale) pulls Christian and fellow Bohemian and Argentinian, Santiago, portrayed perfectly by the […]
LikeLike
[…] directed with a subtle floating intensity and dark humor by the intuitive Jo Bonney (Public’s Mlima’s Tale), the young black man’s dangerous existence isn’t ignored or overlooked, but it clearly […]
LikeLike
[…] of the upcoming revival, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at Signature, the recent lyrical Mlima’s Tale at the Public, and the Pulitzer prize-winning Sweat and Ruined, has brought forth, for inspection […]
LikeLike
[…] to the head strong Boesman, a “Coloured” man, played by Sahr Ngaujah (Public’s Mlima’s Tale). The two encapsulate the pain and threat beautifully, like characters from a refuge-laden Waiting […]
LikeLike
[…] the head strong Boesman, a “Coloured” man, played powerfully by Sahr Ngaujah (Public’s Mlima’s Tale). The two encapsulate the pain and threat beautifully, like characters from a […]
LikeLike
[…] Lap Chi Chu, Mlima’s Tale […]
LikeLike
[…] Secret Life soars under the clearly defined vision of choreographer Chris Walker (Public’s Mlima’s Tale), making the never been seen or heard before imaginable, with music director Jason Hart […]
LikeLike
[…] glorious Toulouise-Lautrec, played majestically by the soulful Sahr Ngaujah (Public’s Mlima’s Tale) guides Christian and his fellow Bohemian, the magnetic Argentinian, Santiago, portrayed perfectly […]
LikeLike
[…] that exists inside of O. His father, Xavier, played by the handsome Bjorn DuPaty (Public’s Mlima’s Tale), doesn’t know what to do with that heaping of rage and hurt that is delivered with such […]
LikeLike
[…] (Broadway’s Torch Song), solid sound design by Darron L. West (Public’s Mlima’s Tale), the story of that day and the frustrating all-to-real aftermath spins out powerfully and […]
LikeLike
[…] aggressively and finely portrayed by the focused Kevin Mambo (Broadway’s Fela!, Public’s Mlima’s Tale), demands obedience and passivity from his two companions, and nothing less, as they set forth on […]
LikeLike
[…] Kaye Voyce (Broadway’s Sea Wall/A Life); stingy subtle lighting by Lap Chi Chu (Public’s Mlina’s Tale); and an echoing deep sound design by Lee Kinney (Broadway’s Is This A Room) with original […]
LikeLike
[…] Gathered together in the hot-fired heart of this fascinatingly adept new play by Lynn Nottage (Mlima’s Tale; The Secret Life of Bees) making its Broadway premiere at Second Stage’s Helen Hayes Theater, […]
LikeLike