Two worlds together are better than one
A Adrian borden
ARTSY FARTSY Adrian Borden works at First United Methodist Church in Montgomery and is immersed in the arts throughout the River Region.
46
bout two weeks ago I had the esteemed pleasure of seeing Big River at The Wetumpka Depot. I found myself cackling one minute and fighting back tears the next. Getting to watch some of my actor friends portray the outlandish characters also was highly entertaining. The story of Big River, based on the book Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, was written in 1884. And yet, even with its age and language style, which now sounds formal and chock-full of racially charged references, it is a touching tale about dissolving the racial divide. Let’s face it; back then, the racial divide was as deep and as wide as the Grand Canyon. In Big River, Huck Finn runs off with Jim, the slave belonging to Widow Watson, who had adopted Huck as her own. Huck’s own drunk and good-fer-nuthin’ father had tried to kill him – and escape was the only way. Jim heard Widow Watson was going to sell him down the river to New Orleans. He wanted nothing more in the world than to see his wife and children, also enslaved, and he was willing to escape to freedom and buy his family members. As Huck and Jim are floatin’ on down the river together, Huck starts to see Jim as a human being. Soon they forge a friendship that is tested by a pretty girl named Mary Jane. Huck politely turns down her offer to stay in the town where she lives and be her friend. He knows that Jim needs his help to get to his family. In the end, word comes to Jim and Huck that Widow Watson had not only died but also had freed Jim in her will. Now, here is where I cried. I asked my best friend Leanna Wallace how she felt about being in this show (she played an amusing array of characters). “Every night audience members would come up to the cast and say that it was a magical show. The main part was really about a bond between two people
who, in society’s eyes, were never meant to bond together. They were never meant to be anything special to each other, but they ended up being the most special parts of one another’s lives,” she said. She sang a little bit of the song Worlds Apart for me. She has a lovely singing voice. I see the same skies through my window that you see through yours, but we’re worlds apart. The subtext, she said, is, “I’m seeing the same things that you are through different eyes. Yes, we are different people, but how amazing if we could bring these two worlds together because two worlds together are better than one. Everyone can relate to that.” I know that things have changed a whole heck of a lot since then, but society still has a lot of difficult conversations to have together. The popularity of the movie Just Mercy and the footprint that the Equal Justice Initiative has created locally, with its Lynching Memorial and Legacy Museum, are encouraging. I’m having the time of my life getting to portray Mrs. Barbara Henry in the show RUBY at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Ruby Bridges was the first African-American child to de-segregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Nov. 14, 1960. The U.S. Marshals protecting her knew the dangers of letting Ruby, who was only 6 years old, play with the other children straight away. So as a result, Ruby spent almost the entire school year in the classroom with her teacher, who was a kind, careful advocate for Ruby’s fun and safety. What’s even better about this show is that the majority of the cast is Montgomery Public School students. It’s no mistake that ASF has done other shows with similar messages recently: Four Little Girls; Nina Simone: Four Women; and Pipeline. The climate is perfect to accept our gnarly past, grasp hands and move forward together. I’m so glad that art and the worldly appreciation for it creates a safe space for shows that have difficult themes, which then lead to difficult conversations, leading to peace and justice.
ELMORE COUNTY LIVING
