Clark is completely convincing as the fire-breathing politician known for his vocal support of Black rights, dapper dress, good looks and a flamboyant lifestyle (this Adam married three Eves.
As a historian I enjoy seeing the annals of humanity dramatized, and Myers Clark’s reenactment of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., New York City’s first Black Congressman, is an absorbing history lesson delivered on the stage. In Adam – Keep the Faith, Baby Clark is completely convincing as the fire-breathing politician known for his vocal support of Black rights, dapper dress, good looks and a flamboyant lifestyle (this Adam married three Eves – albeit not concurrently – including the gifted pianist Hazel Scott). The Sugar Hill-dwelling Harlemite was an exemplar of the Black bourgeoisie. During his quarter century in Washington, Powell cut a dashing vivid figure, and having grown up in NYC, I remember him well. I even had the opportunity once to see Powell speak at the House of Representatives when I was a boy.
Having said that, I still learned a lot during Clark’s illuminating one-man show about the fiery leader Harlem elected to Congress about a dozen times. I had forgotten Powell was a Baptist Pastor – which could account for his electrifying oratory, that Clark channels with verve – and never knew he had served on NY’s City Council and indeed was the first African American to do so. I had no idea that, against State Department advice, Powell courageously attended the Non-Aligned Movement’s landmark 1955 conference at Bandung, Indonesia with Third World leaders such as Egypt’s Gamal Abdel Nasser (whom, in my opinion, Powell resembled). In the play when Powell – never a shrinking violet – is accused of being “a communist sympathizer,” the outspoken congressman proclaims: “Damn right I was a Black power advocate!” In addition, Clark’s one-man show reveals personal details about Powell’s private life, the family he was born into, his multiple marriages, and so on.
Whether behind a pulpit or desk, Clark’s depiction is spot on, and totally persuaded me that he was Powell incarnate, in essence and appearance. With his suit, glistening hair (the actor told me he used Ice, a gel) and mustachioed handsome punim, Clark looked the part, even as he captured the spirit of the man he was etching a realistic portrait of. Gloria Gifford’s direction elicits a truthful performance in this often-riveting play about a historic icon, co-produced for Jamaica Moon Productions by Raven Bowens and Keturah V. Hamilton.
But the stage is not a classroom and the solo show format is a tricky one to navigate. There is essentially only one performer who must hold the audience’s attention during the entire span of the play as it unfolds (and often the work is also written by that thesp, although in this case Clarence R. Cuthbertson has Adam’s playwriting credit). Some actors, notably Anna Deavere Smith, depict a myriad of characters to enliven their one-person shows. In another excellent solo-show about a NY member of Congress, Bella Abzug, That Beautiful, Ballsy Broad Who Gave ‘Em Hell! that had a compelling staged reading at Theatre West in 2024, bard/performer Amy Simon craftily deployed the telephone on the congresswoman’s desk to open-up the drama beyond the limiting parameters of the one-person confines, enabling Battling Bella to parry and thrust with many of her era’s notable political figures via ringy-dingy zingers courtesy of Ma Bell.
Adam violates one of theater’s cornerstones: “Don’t tell me, show me,” to paraphrase Anton Chekhov. Some of Adam’s anecdotes, plot points, etc., should have been related more through action, rather than Clark’s merely narrating exposition and the like. Cuthbertson’s script as presented also needs more meat on its bones. The play briefly deals with Powell’s expulsion from Congress, and only mentions in passing the corruption scandals that plagued Powell (whose constituents reelected him anyway).
In the entire history of the U.S. House of Representatives, only six congressmembers have been expelled by their colleagues. At a mere 40 to 50 minutes in length, the all-too brief Adam could easily be expanded to include this controversial part of Powell’s contentious life – after all, conflict generates good drama. (In the case of the most recent bum to be thrown out by his fellow reps, George Santos’ well-earned expulsion was a goldmine for comedy – SNL’s Bowen Yang presumably earned enough dough playing Santos to build a McMansion).
Despite my quibbles, this review recommends that theatergoers interested in the annals of African Americans, one-person shows and plain ol’ good acting take a bite of this Adam’s apple about one of the Big Apple’s most iconoclastic pols. Even if Black History Month has passed (and a number of federal agencies no longer observe it), Adam Clayton Powell Jr. deserves to be remembered, and this entertaining, educational bioplay does him justice and keeps the faith with Powell by dramatizing his colorful career and life.
Adam – Keep the Faith, Baby is playing March 7, 8 and 14, Fridays and Saturdays. at 8 p.m. at the GGC Theatre, 6502 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90038; entrance on Wilcox Ave. Tickets: (310) 366-5505; BOXOFFICE.
Ed Rampell’s novel about the Native Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement for Indigenous rights, The Disinherited: Blood Blalahs, will be published this Spring.
