Plum (Alicia Pilgrim) talks with her sister, Reesee (Lauren F. Walker), in Cullud Wattah.
Water is an essential part of life. It helps maintain bodily function and provides nutrients and sustenance for plants and animals. It seems unfathomable that life can exist without water, yet that is the reality for the residents of Flint, Mich. Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s new play, Cullud Wattah, addresses the pollution of the city’s water system and how it has affected the citizens. Cullud Wattah also focuses on the disparity and inequities that prevail in cities with a majority population of minorities.
In Flint, government officials were informed of the severity of the water problem, yet years passed and nothing was done about it; there still hasn’t been a full resolution. Dickerson-Dispenza examines three generations of a family, from grandma to granddaughters, who endure the scarcity every day. The characters are all women—Big Ma, the matriarch; her daughters Marion and Ainee; and Marion’s two daughters, Reesee and 9-year-old Plum.
Crystal Dickinson plays Marion and Lizan Mitchell is Big Ma in Erika Dickerson-Desperanza’s play.
Director Candis C. Jones’s production opens with a variation of the spiritual, “Wade in the Water,” which sets the tone for the characters’ world. The cast chants “Lead in thuh wattah/ Lead in thuh wattah, cheeldrun” as Plum rises from a bathtub. Both sadness and hope are embedded in the rhythm and soul of their voices. As they sing, Plum collects some yellow water with a bottle from the tub. She labels it and says, “Friday, April 25th, 2014.” The Flint water crisis began in 2014; the action here begins 936 days from the onset of the contamination.
Plum places the water bottle alongside many others on the stage, designed by Adam Rigg to underscore the harsh reality of the crisis. Illuminated, dirty water bottles hang in the background; others decorate the passages and line the playing area.
Each character has a distinct story about the danger of the water, but they are united in the struggle to survive and keep going. Plum (Alicia Pilgrim) wears a wig to hide hair loss—a result of the cancer brought on by drinking toxic water—and is undergoing treatment. Reesee (Lauren F. Walker) is a lively teenager propelled by spirituality: she wants to be a doula, a birthing professional who provides emotional and physical support during pregnancy and childbirth. But the water has affected her menstrual cycle, now sporadic and prolonged.
Marion (Crystal Dickinson) is Reesee and Plum’s mother. She is a General Motors line worker who wants to ensure her family’s safety, but she is also the main provider. In spite of carrying scars and rashes on her body, she decides not to partake in the legal case against the government because it would be a conflict of interest with her job, in which she just received a promotion.
Ainee (Andrea Patterson), Marion’s sister, is a recovering addict who has been clean for about a year. She is pregnant after surviving numerous miscarriages and stillbirths. This time around she hopes for a healthy baby. Rounding out the characters is Big Ma (Lizan Mitchell). She has lived in Flint for years and has witnessed the lows and highs of the community.
Mitchell as Big Ma with Walker as Reesee. Photographs by Joan Marcus.
The family tries to not let the water interfere with their everyday life, but it’s impossible when water is a necessity for everyday tasks. They meticulously count how many bottles of water each task requires. Thanksgiving requires a large number:
That’s twenty-six bottles to wash thuh vegetables/ twenty-four bottles to thaw & rinse thuh turkey/ thirty-two bottles to wash soak & cook thuh greens/ thirteen bottles for thuh ham/ ten for thuh mac & cheese eight for thuh dressing/ six bottles for thuh sweet potatoes/ three for thuh sweet potato pie….
How can one get ready to go to work, school or a date without water? But they manage the dire situation; they survive and live the best they can. The beauty of the play lies among the familial interactions of Reesee comforting Ainee, Ainee helping Marion get ready for a date, Big Ma telling Reesee of her past love and Reesee explaining spirituality to Plum. The intimate moments of the family shine through the chaos yet at the core there is always the “wattah.” The water eventually turns sisters, Marion and Ainee, against one another as they take opposing positions on the legal case against the government. Ainee is tired of the conditions and wants to take action against the government while Marion is torn between her job and her family. Dickenson and Patterson are artful and passionate; they deliver an evocative performance.
Cullud Wattah is an important play that calls more than just attention to situations that are often overlooked in minority communities; it insists on action. This is felt at the end of the play with the lack of a curtain call; the focus is not on the performers, but on the injustice.
Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s Cullud Wattah runs to Dec. 12 at the Public Theater (425 Lafayette St.). Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (except Dec. 5); matinees are at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. For more information and tickets, call Audience Servieces at (212) 967-7555 or visit publictheater.org.
