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Photography by Phillip Hamer
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Photography by Phillip Hamer
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Photography by Phillip Hamer
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Photography by Phillip Hamer
Mlima’s Tale, selected for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ 2021 season back in February 2020, is the theater company’s sole production plotted pre-pandemic to make it to the other side. You realize why almost immediately. Two poachers kill a strong African elephant, Mlima (Kambi Gathesha)—one of the last “big tuskers” who lives in a protected park in Kenya—with a poison arrow. This isn’t supposed to happen here. The audience then watches as Mlima’s spirit and tusks wend their way through the black market—from poacher to dealer to artist to customer—ultimately leaving Africa entirely. Mlima’s Tale, by two-time Pulitzer winner Lynn Nottage and directed here by Shariffa Chelimo Ali, is a play that shows humans’ impact on the natural world, how we’re all connected, more united than divided, for better or worse.
The production, running through July 11 at COCA’s new Berges Theatre, marks the return to the stage for The Rep. “In this last year,” says artistic director Hana Sharif, “I kept saying, ‘If we're going to produce anything, what is the play that doesn't try to pretend like the last year didn't happen, doesn't try and throw glitter at the journey we've all come through, but still has the ability to bring out hope, a sense of elevated humanity, and a sense of connectedness? [What will] force us to ask the question about what are the ties that bind us together?’ Because one of the things, I think, that has been really apparent throughout the year for me has been how much more connects us than separates us.”
After a year of death and grief, it’s an emotional journey, and one of the more poignant scenes comes as Mlima’s spirit interacts with other elephants that have been killed for their ivory. Their names and the short stories of how they died feel like obituaries.
In addition to Gathesha—who plays Mlima, the elephant’s spirit, and the tusks—Ezioma Asonye, Will Mann, and Joe Ngo embody a total of 28 characters, cycling through scenes at a well-paced but almost athletic rate. The set design, by You-Shin Chen, is able to transport the audience to both Africa and Asia in the play’s 90 minutes; choreography by COCA’s Kirven Douthit-Boyd adds to the transcendence.
As the country begins to pull out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s interesting to think about how works of art will take on new meaning. The director Kathryn Bigelow introduced Nottage to the plight of endangered elephants and the ivory trade, and Nottage finished Mlima’s Tale in 2018. Yes, it’s an interesting and important work that urges conservation. In 2021, for audiences searching for a place to reflect—on globalism, on greed, on everything—the thought-provoking Mlima’s Tale offers an opportunity to do so.
Watch the trailer below:
