Theater Review

By Tom Keogh
Special to The Seattle Times

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It's entirely possible that no one knows the human heart as well as it is known by the shoes an individual wears. We choose shoes to match the purpose and relative meaningfulness of any given occasion, and, with enough of those occasions, shoes get tired and worn but have many stories to tell.

No one understands that better than the eponymous central character in the touching and witty "Etta Phifer's Testimonial Shoe Kismet." Etta (in a vivid and moving performance by Demene E. Hall) seems to be listening to her personal museum of shoes — and talking back to each pair as if they're brash children — on the eve of her 80th birthday. A single, rangy, powerful-looking woman, Etta literally awakens to her autobiographical dialogue with footwear after a distressing sleep (in a chair) that leaves her feeling shaken and mortal.

Perhaps with good reason. Looming in the background of "Etta's" spare set in the Bullitt Cabaret at ACT Theatre is a spectral vision that intuitively suggests loquacious Etta's final act in this world is coming to a close. A silent character identified in the program notes as Kismet (portrayed by the play's author, Shontina Vernon) lurches about with palsy-like movements in some kind of supernatural dimension, adding to a pile of shoes she has acquired from somewhere.

Who she is and what she's doing are never spelled out, though by the play's end, Etta's and Kismet's fates are obviously, if mysteriously, intertwined. Before that, however, Etta talks about many a chapter in her long life: influential figures from her youth, pivotal events involving a lover named Elridge whom she sent away. Between Vernon's feel for authentic language and Hall's command over authentic emotions, "Etta's" long, dark night of the soul veers from sentimentality and offers a portrait of modern history as lived by a compelling figure.

Vernon is a University of Washington alumna whose "Etta" is a world premiere produced by the Hansberry Project, which is dedicated to developing African-American theater at ACT. The production's graceful, wistful touch is provided by director Valerie Curtis-Newton, who is also the artistic director of the Hansberry Project.

Tom Keogh: tomwkeogh@yahoo.com