Building from the strength of “I Am My Ancestors Wildest Dream,” the innovative Cookeville Theatre Company (CTC) is back with another inspiring Black History Month production. Like its predecessor, the new “We Rise Above” is an ensemble performance that serves the community by showcasing the community.
In creating this new production, director LaTrece Willis clearly focuses on how the multimedia production looks, sounds, and feels to its viewers and performers, with a keen sense of an overall vibe and interactive aesthetic that shimmers and shines. The fierce and fast-paced production will capture your heart with its delightful diversity. A fulsome feast for the ears and eyes, “We Rise Above” welcomes its audiences to sample each vignette in a visually sumptuous variety show, mesmerizing montage, and potluck of poems.
Switching things up from the 2024 performance, the play makes a strong nod to Black women poets, offering a crash-course syllabus on the strongest voices in womanist and feminist poetics from the last sixty years. We hear from the lauded likes of the recently passed Nikki Giovanni, as well as from Maya Angelou, Ntozake Shange, Gwendolyn Brooks, and an original poem by cast member Monica Reynolds.
In addition to poetic performances, the musical selections are a mellow mixtape of classic and contemporary that really amplifies the vocal and choreography talents of the multigenerational cast. Yes, you are going to get some Nina Simone and Clara Ward, but you are also going to hear Beyonce and Alicia Keys. Whether we are listening to Adrianne Buck sing or watching Sya Johnson and Lauren Keele dance, these incredible cast members will capture, carry, and take care of your heart for the hour you are fully present for this fabulous presentation. We might say that the men in the cast are there to support the stunning women, but when they throw down with the renditions of Al Green or The Temptations, you will simply be transported to that magical place that those classics always take you.
You may or may not know that Cookeville is currently bursting at the seams with a community theatrical revival. Live plays have always been a big deal in this college town, but things have grown greatly in the last few years. On any given weekend, you could see more than one show at various venues around town, produced by various production teams. The Cookeville Theatre Company and the Wesley Chapel/Arena Theatre on 9th Street (just east of Spankies and across the street from Collegeside Church) have been a great part of this rising and thriving scene.
Although I have only scribbled shoutouts to a handful of the cast and crew in this far too-brief review, this stunning creative collage truly is the loving labor of our entire village. When you attend, get there a few minutes early to pick up your program and study the entire breakdown of cast, crew, and assorted credits. I get super grateful and emotional just scanning the many details and seeing how many hands collaborated to make this impressive and necessary performance. It’s truly sad that “diversity” and “Black History” have become bad words to some in these strange times, but you sure wouldn’t know that from the exuberance, empowerment. and enthusiasm found in this amazing show. As your neighbor as much as a reviewer, a heartfelt thank you to everyone involved, especially to the event’s many sponsors and benefactors, to director LaTrece Willis, and to the founder and producer of CTC, Kathleen Gilpatrick.
As of this writing, only three performances remain at 7:30pm on February 27, 28, and March 1 at the Wesley Theatre at 271 East 9th Street. Get your tickets (while they last) and more information at the website: www.cookevilletheatreco.org
-Andrew William (Sunfrog) Smith
Andrew Smith is a local teacher, DJ, poet, and activist. He has reviewed live theater in Cookeville for almost 20 years.
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