Juilliard Drama Presents "Hoodoo Love" by Katori Hall '-' Psychic and Violent Toll of Slavery Still Haunts

The Juilliard Drama Students were superb in their acting & singing abilities.  They had the indomitable task of representing black men & women in Memphis in the 1930's navigating dire poverty, sexual violence and despair,  Toulou (a remarkable Brittany Bradford) is a joyful & courageous spirit who possesses a relentless hope for love. Toulou is craving a steadfast love and concedes to rely on "Hoodoo" or voodoo or whatever you can do to grab happiness.  The play is entrenched with ancestral rituals and dubious faith in the supernatural.  Juilliard alum and playwright Katori Hall (b 1981) received an Olivier Award for Best New Play "The Mountain Top" which starred Angela Bassett & Samuel L. Jackson on Broadway.  Hall also received a Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award.  "Hoodoo Love" is not lovable easy entertainment.  The play's heroine, Toulou is  woman arduously trying to make ends meet and to keep her lover, Ace of Spades (Daniel Davila Jr.) from taking off at his whim.  Ace is quite the ladies man with dreams of making it as a blue-singer.  Toulou has the female companionship & guidance of Candylady (an excellent Lisa Arindell).  Candylady's advice comes in the form of charms, recipes and rituals that defy logic but Toulou finds herself succumbing to Candyland's instructions (which are severe) but seem to work magic & does the trick of winning Ace's heart.  Happiness is not lasting.  Toulou's bible thumping, shameful sham of a preacher comes to visit but means to stay.  Hall's brilliant writing draws on characters who are fixed in a vicious cycle of defeat, abuse and persecution.  The women, especially Toulou demonstrate courage & hope in defiance of perpetuating oppression & exploitation.  Music is intertwined magically & with much some reprieve from constant misery.  Eshu (Justin Cunningham) is on stage but outside the play.  He is a musical blues enchantress & functions as a narrative constraint.   "Hoodoo Love" was not an easy Valentine's Day treat but it's miraculous in all the emotions it elicits from a painful past that resonates through multiple dimensions.