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The Trip to Bountiful
Happy Passover, Easter, and vacation to all! It has not been much of a break for me, though, as I have been working really hard on various aspects of my blog, particularly my theatre vault page. One thing I have not done, however, is posted in a while! This break has found me at home rather than on campus, and because of this, I haven’t been exposed to as many events as usual – not to mention I doubt there was anything happening in Queens this past week anyhow! But, yesterday I was fortunate enough to venture into the city with my mother to see a lovely play called The Trip to Bountiful, starring Cicely Tyson, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Vanessa Williams.
Carrie Watts (Tyson) is a 70 year old woman living with her son and daughter-in-law in Houston, Texas in the 1950s. She is 
beginning to become old and frail, but this hasn’t put a damper on her very young spirit. Mrs. Watts still pouts, sings, dances, and runs all around the house, much to the dismay of her daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae (Williams). All Jessie Mae seems to admire about her mother-in-law is her monthly pension check, so that she can go to the beauty parlor and buy things at the local drug store. Mrs. Watts’ son, Ludie (Gooding Jr.), doesn’t ever stand up for his mother, and usually is pushed over by his outspoken wife. Not until the end of the play does he finally have the guts to speak up to Jessie Mae.
When Jessie Mae steps out of their small, shared house to go meet a friend at the drug store, Mrs. Watts takes her chance to escape. This isn’t the first time she’s tried to go back home, to Bountiful, but it’s the first time in 20 years that she’s able to successfully get there. With nothing but a suitcase, her purse, and her pension check, she leaves for the bus station. There, she meets a lovely girl (Condola Rashad). They travel together on the same bus to Harrison, though the girl has to catch a connection while Mrs. Watts remains in the Harrison bus station – she still has to find a way to reach her final destination. The two women connect, the first real connection Mrs. Watts has with anyone in the play. It seems as if the two mutually understand each other and appreciate each other’s company. Together they sing church hymns and even dance, as Mrs. Watts reminisces about the dances she attended back in the old days – the audience even joined in with the hymn-singing!
Though Jessie Mae called the police after finding that her mother-in-law had run off again, and even though the sheriff (Tom Wopat) at Harrison “caught” her, Carrie Watts is still able to make her way down to Bountiful – the land on which she grew up. No one lives there anymore as the last inhabitant, Mrs. Watts’ friend Callie, recently died. It was Callie she had planned on staying with. Even so, it wasn’t the people or the buildings that made Bountiful lovely for Mrs. Watts, but the land, the smell, and the trees. When her son Ludie comes to pick her up, he feels the same connection with the land on which he grew as well. Jessie Mae, though, is quite indifferent to it. The two women reconcile their differences and come to an understanding before heading back to Houston. The story ends with the protagonist saying an emotion-filled good-bye to beautiful Bountiful, most likely for the last time in her life.
This was the second performance and the cast did marvelously! Opening night (though the show is still in previews until late in April) was only the night before! Cecily Tyson was absolutely amazing in her portrayal of Carrie Watts. She was really able to pull off the woman’s young soul underneath a tired, old body. The audience could definitely feel her emotions, as she acted passive-agressively towards her daughter-in-law by pouting out the window, or through the inflections in her voice. And what a voice she had! The way she projected was superb, and its rough warmth really added to the depth of her character.
If anything, the play is a commentary about the old versus the young – aren’t they all! The protagonist and her daughter-in-law are extreme opposites. One (Mrs. Watts) is a woman who is in touch with memories, emotions, and the past, while the other one (Jessie Mae) only thinks about going to the beauty salon and other superficial, materialistic endeavors. As I mentioned before, Mrs. Watts isn’t concerned with people or places, but with things that are more permanent like love, compassion, and the land. If anything, the audience should leave having learnt about old traditional values and their application towards living a happy life – unlike the life that Mrs. Watts lived prior to her trip to Bountiful.
Get your tickets while you can, because I definitely think this play is going to do really well! Look for multiple Tony nominations next fall!
The Trip to Bountiful
Stephen Sondheim Theatre
March 31, 2013
Marina B. Nebro
Comments
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