Newspaper Page Text
The Maroon
Page 14
May 1997/
Rhythm of the Cage
by andrew mccaskill
contributing writer
rue to its six minute
ticket sellout,
Spelman College's
drama department
production of Kia
Corthron's Cage
Rhythm was an
awesome show.
Seated directly in front of bars, the ex
tremely intimate setting of the Maya
Angelou Practice Theatre provided an
up close, and at times, too personal view
into the lives of some very complex
women.
The story centers around the rugged
love-hate affair between two prison in
mates, Avery (Kimberly Bailey), a
woman who escapes mentally to live,
and T.J. (Rowkeena Ellis), a woman who
lives to physically escape. Surprisingly,
in an hour and twenty minutes, Cage
Rhythm manages to give a raw and
gritty glimpse of the thousands of im
prisoned women these characters rep
resent. The outstandingly unbelievable
supporting cast consists of Montana, an
aged, life prisoner from Mississippi; Joy
Ann, a woman lost in rhymes and in
sanity; and Esperanza, a Latino AIDS
victim.
With less than a year to serve, Avery,
a recovering heroin addict and falsely
accused child abuser, gets a new cell
mate. T.J., a former Black Panther and
open lesbian, has been transferred to
serve the remainder of her life sentence.
In jail for the haphazard death of a white
cop, she finds little favor with correc
tions officers and spends much of her
time in solitary. Avery receives equally
harsh treatment from her fellow prison
ers. It does not take time before the two
women, although different in numerous
ways, become fast friends and even
faster lovers.
T.J. enrolls in Montana's cosmetol
ogy classes as a cover to get close to the
only escape route in the facility. Mean
while, much to the disbelief of everyone
else, Avery has learned to master a medi
tation technique that allows her to roam
freely in the outside world.
Who are these women? Are they kill
ers, thieves, junkies, psychotics, and
HIV carriers? Well...yes, but Cage
Rhythm illustrates them
as much more — mothers,
sisters, teachers, intellects,
friends, and lovers. Avery
and T.J.'s interactions with
prisoners, guards, and
each other are so bold and
crude that often the audi
ence does not want to be
there. Watching audience
reactions is almost as in
teresting as watching the
actors themselves, most
especially when T.J. and
Avery's love-hate relation
ship begins to press
keenly toward love.
The production is an
abrasive depiction of life
inside the walls of a
women's prison. From
the physically violent
wars between the soap
opera sects and the game
show enthusiasts to the
unfathomably high value i:
of toothpaste and candy /MTU
bars, it is consistently en
lightening and entertaining. The audi
ence sees firsthand how some women
live and die, live and love, live in fear,
and live in madness, but without a
doubt — live in tune with the rlrythm
of the cage.
