Alumna's play seeks to 'demystify' era of great upheaval in African-American life

"Crumbs from the Table of Joy," a play by School of Drama alumna Lynn Nottage about a young woman's search to find her place in a changing America, will be the next offering in the Yale Repertory Theatre's 1998-99 season. The play, which is directed by Seret Scott, will be staged at the University Theatre, 222 York St.

Set in 1950, "Crumbs from the Table of Joy" chronicles the "coming of age" of 17-year-old Ernestine Crump. Her father, who is still reeling from the recent death of his wife, seeks solace in the preaching of an elixir-hawking radio evangelist and relocates the family from Florida to Brooklyn to be closer to Sweet Father Divine. When their glamorous Aunt Lily moves in, Ernestine and her younger sister, Ermina, find themselves torn between their father's strict religious beliefs and the allure of Lily's independence, be-bop music and promises of social revolution.

"I wanted to tell the story of the migrations, particularly in the 1950s, when so much about African-American life in America changed," explains Nottage, who earned her M.F.A. at the drama school in 1989. "We're talking about the cusp of the civil rights movement, the McCarthy era and the war. For the first time, the government was dealing with integration in the armed forces and, later, in the country as a whole.

"In the African-American community, there's only a handful of stories that deal with that period," notes Nottage. "In a lot of the images on television and in film, that period was idealized. I want to demystify it. I don't think we've fully resolved that period in our collective memories."

"Crumbs from the Table of Joy" received nominations for a NAACP Award and a Black Theatre Alliance Award. Nottage's other plays include "Mud, River, Stone," which was recently produced by Playwright's Horizons, "Por'knockers," "Poof!" and "Las Meninas." These works have been produced off-Broadway and in regional theaters throughout the country. She also co-wrote the upcoming Merchant-Ivory Productions feature film "Side Streets." In addition to several playwriting fellowships, she has received a Playwright's Horizon Amblin/Dreamworks Commission and was a resident artist with Mabou Mines 1992-93.

Scott is familiar with Nottage's work, having previously directed "Crumbs from the Table of Joy" at South Coast Repertory (winning the Beverly Hills NAACP Directors Award for her work), "Mud, River, Stone" at Studio Arena in Buffalo and "Poof!" for Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival.

The cast includes Afi McClendon as Ernestine Crump, Natasha Hinds as Ermina Crump, Jonathan Earl Peck as Godfrey Crump, Caroline Stefanie Clay as Lily Ann Green and Dee Pelletier as Gerte Crump.

The design team includes Neil Patel (sets), Alexander Dodge (costumes), Robert James Perry (lights) and Brian MacQueen (sound).

Performance times for "Crumbs from the Table of Joy" are 7 p.m. on Monday and 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, with 2 p.m. matinees on three Saturdays -- Dec. 5, 12 and 19 -- and on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Tickets are $26-$33, with discounts available for students, senior citizens and groups of 10 or more. Subscription packages are also available. For more information, call the Yale Rep box office at 432-1234, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. until show time on performance days.