The 1950s

The 1950s were a decade marked by the post-World War II boom, the dawn of the
Cold War and the Civil Rights movement in the United States. “America at this
moment,” said the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1945, “stands at
the summit of the world.” During the 1950s, it was easy to see what Churchill meant.
The United States was the world’s strongest military power. Its economy was
booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other
consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before. However, the
1950s were also an era of great conflict. For example, the nascent civil rights
movement and the crusade against communism at home and abroad exposed the
underlying divisions in American society.

Themes
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A white person cannot understand what it is like to be black.

Nottage’s play explores the uneasy tensions and distances between white and black
Americans. Godfrey marries Gerte, a white German woman, and tries to bring her
into the family, but the arrangement is fraught from the start for reasons of racial
difference, despite Gerte’s good intentions. She does not understand why her
stepdaughters cannot accept her. Gerte’s presence makes the girls’ lives harder.
Ermina says, “It ain’t normal for a white lady to be living in a house with colored
folks.” Gerte wants to know why Ernestine doesn’t speak to her, and Ernestine
admits that she is afraid of Gerte. Gerte tries to act friendly to Ernestine, offering to
take her to the movies, but Ernestine knows that this would only cause more trouble
for her and her sister outside their home. Gerte and Lily argue, and Gerte wants to
know why they cannot “forget [their] differences behind this closed door.” Lily says
that she sees a white woman when she looks at Gerte and a black woman when she
looks in the mirror, and this difference holds true behind the closed door. Gerte says
that she has also known pain, given her experiences in World War II, and that she
has seen what happens when people only notice their differences. But what she has
been through is not the same as what black Americans go through. The dynamics of
the play make clear that one category of adversity—in this case, Gerte’s—cannot
substitute for another category—that of the Crumps. Adversity is not generalized: a
white person, even equipped with empathy and wisdom, cannot understand the
experience of a black person.
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A spiritual leader is not a substitute for God.

Crumbs from the Table of Joy examines the role of spiritual leaders in society. The
play implicitly critiques larger-than-life leaders who attract a following in such a way
that distracts from the core principles of spirituality. This dynamic is explored in the
characters of Godfrey Crump and Father Divine, leader of the Peace Mission, whom
Crump has recently begun to follow. The audience never sees Godfrey worry about
what God thinks of him or his family, but he is constantly concerned with what Father
Divine might have to say. When his daughters want to turn on the radio on Sunday,
Godfrey wonders what Father Divine (who has a rule against this behavior) would
say as a result of their lack of commitment to their souls. Rather than offering real
spiritual guidance, helping Godfrey to understand God or faith more fully, Father
Divine does things that seem nice and reassuring but have no real value to the
family, like giving them new names. The names are impractical and ridiculous, as the
girls point out, but Godfrey likes his new name (Godfrey Goodness) and introduces
himself this way to other people. Father Divine’s lack of substantial guidance and his
eventual failure to show up at a Peace Mission dinner suggest that he is not the
minister he claims to be. At that sans-Divine dinner, Ernestine says jokingly,
“Searching for salvation in the tender juices of a mutton chop layered in our favorite
mint jelly, God speaks the language of our stomachs.” If anyone doubts Father
Divine’s “power,” they...

Crumbs From The Table Of Joy”

Posted on April 4, 2013
Brooklyn Legends is proud to salute Lynn Nottage.
For two decades, Pulitzer-prize winning author Lynn Nottage has written plays that
examine racial and social justice issues. Growing up, she was deeply impacted by
two very strong women: her grandmother, who was a master story-teller, and her
mother, who was a political activist during the civil rights and feminist movements.
Lynn’s journey as a writer began at the kitchen table in her family home in Brooklyn.
She would arrive from school to find her grandmother and mother surrounded by
women from the neighborhood who shared stories about their daily experiences.
During this time, America was in the midst of the civil rights movement and the world
watched the abysmal treatment of people of African and Caribbean descent. These
women made the decision to pursue their careers in spite of these challenges and
their powerful stories impacted her decision to become a ‘writer, theatremaker and
activist.’

Lynn’s career as a playwright has received national, and international, acclaim. She
has written nine plays, most recently By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2011)
and Ruined (2008).
Vera Stark enjoyed an extended run Off-Broadway, before premiering in Los
Angeles and Chicago. Ruined, the Pulitzer Prize winning play which premiered
in New York City, received ten awards in addition to the Pulitzer Prize.  Ruined made
its international debut in London and, eventually, would be produced in Cambodia,
Chad, The Caribbean, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Germany. Lynn’s
other plays include: Fabulation (2004), Intimate Apparel (2003), Las
Meninas (2002), Mud, River, Stone (1998), Por’Knockers (1996), Crumbs From The
Table Of Joy (1995) and Poof (1993).
Typically, when I write a post I will focus on many accomplishments of a particular
Brooklyn Legend. However, given the breadth of Lynn’s work, I will share my
impressions of the play that impacted me the most – Crumbs From The Table Of
Joy, which is considered to be one of her most popular. I was first drawn to the
provocative title of the play. My friends will often comment on my tendency to look for
the hidden meaning in things. My curiosity was piqued. I asked myself three
questions:
 Is this another play where the lead character is driven to accept (due to lack of
knowledge or accessibility) something that is not sufficient or good enough?
 If throughout the play, the lead character does settle for less, is this a strategic
decision?
 Is my interpretation of “less” symptomatic of the way things are at this point in
history?
Crumbs From The Table Of Joy is set in the 1950s. The main character, Godfrey
Crump, recently lost his wife and is left with two teenage daughters to raise:
Ernestine, who will soon graduate from high school and Ermina, her younger sister.
The story is really told through Ernestine’s eyes but Godfrey is an unmistakable force
throughout. Feeling alone and overwhelmed after his wife’s death, he seeks
guidance from Father Divine, a leading religious figure of the day and leader of the
Peace Mission Movement.
Godfrey corresponds with Father Divine through the mail. He orders tonics to calm
his nerves and scriptures to calm his soul. Each package arrives with a postmark
from Brooklyn, New York, which leads him to conclude the Peace Mission is also
headquartered there. Desiring to be closer to Father Divine, and recognizing his
need for help in raising his girls, he uproots his family from their home in Pensacola,
Florida, and moves them into a dimly lit, basement apartment in Brooklyn, New York.
I think that we can each imagine the fear, shock and anger (which I am throwing into
the mix) Ernestine and Ermina feel when they leave their home, and their mother’s
remains, without warning. His daughters slowly adapt to their new life in Brooklyn,
despite the manner in which their school peers make fun of how they dress and
speak. However, the manner in which they adapt to their father’s new religion proves
to be much more difficult.
Shortly after moving to Brooklyn, Lily, their mother’s sister, moves in with them. She
announces her presence as the fulfillment of a promise to her sister to look after her
daughters should the need arise. Lily is cosmopolitan and a sharp dresser. To
Ernestine and Ermina, she is the embodiment of what all sophisticated women from
Harlem are like. Over time they are quite taken with her. Godfrey is quickly troubled
by Lily’s pursuit of freedom of expression, alcohol, music, cigarettes and sex. She is
the opposite of everything he is trying to instill in them.
Lily is expressive and opinionated, traits Ernestine quickly embraces, and in her
child-like manner she tries to emulate. Godfrey discovers Lily’s views are behind an
essay Ernestine writes for school where she speaks out against the treatment of
workers and denounces the discrimination they face. Her new-found freedom of
expression proves to be contentious, resulting in Godfrey’s plea to his daughter to
apologize for her transgression. In his eyes Ernestine got it all wrong, just as her
teacher said. Remember this play is set in the 1950s. During this time America is
dealing with Jim Crow laws, which were designed to prevent people of African
descent, especially women, from speaking out and challenging the manner in which
they were denied access to education, employment, housing and the voting.
Lily also loves to listen to music, sing and dance. She cannot understand why the
radio is hardly ever on. Ernestine and Ermina are forced to listen to laughter that
traveled from their neighbors’ apartments in the evening as they enjoyed the popular
shows of the day. Their repeated pleas to their father to turn on the radio are met
with blank stares, harsh admonishment or hand-written notes that are stored in
boxes for safe-keeping until the day he would meet Father Divine.

Until that day arrives, Godfrey is determined to temper the girl’s desire to enjoy life,
with his oppressive treatment born out of his desire to shield them from life’s
temptations and to please Father Divine. This included changing their names.
Ernestine was Darling Angel and Ermina was Devout Mary. When they go to church
at the Mission, they wear starched white “pinafore” dresses with a large “V”
emblazed on their chests. The “V” stood for virtue, victory and virginity.
Life continued in this manner with small skirmishes between Godfrey and Lily and
Godfrey and his daughters. The play also reveals a prior intimate relationship
between Godfrey and Lily which eventually reaches a tipping point. An argument
ensues and Godfrey storms out of the apartment. He returns a few days later with a
new wife he meets on the subway, Gerte, an immigrant from Germany trying to find
Pennsylvania Station. With Gerte’s arrival, Lily feels even more displaced and
eventually leaves. She tells her nieces that she is going back to Harlem to re-join the
revolution and the fight against racial injustice.

Godfrey and Gerte do their best to maintain provide the girls with a stable home life.
However, once Ernestine graduates from high school things change. One day
Godfrey comes home and proudly announces he secured a job for her in the bakery
where he works. She is grateful but informs him that her heart is elsewhere. Lily’s
talk of the revolution has inspired Ernestine to follow in her footsteps. She leaves
home and moves to Harlem where she hopes to meet up with her aunt and join her
cause

In the end, Ernestine never sees Lily again, but she eventually finds her place in the
world. But equally important, for the first time in her life, she is in control of her
destiny. She is able to make decisions, experience life and make her own way in the
world. But she does not desert her family. She marries a man who shares her
commitment to making a difference in the world. Although her life is not perfect, she
eventually finds the things that give her joy.  Here is a scene from the play

This is an abbreviated synopsis of this play, for there are many hidden meanings. If
you would like to know more about this or Lynn’s many other plays, please
click here.  Now I am back to my three questions.
  My answer to question #1 – I absolutely feel that Godfrey, due to the limitations
of the day, was forced to accept the “crumbs” of life that came his way. He was
trying to make his way after the death of his life partner, during one of the most
turbulent periods in America’s history. Decades of oppression, and being
forced to live differently as a result of Jim Crow laws, stripped away any
chance he had to feel empowered.
 My answer to question #2 – This may come as a shock but, on some level, I
can see the strategy behind Godfrey’s decision. Albeit abrupt, he made a plan
and stuck to it. He left Florida in search of spiritual guidance and a new life for
Ernestine and Ermina. He did not get “buy-in” but he certainly thought about it
and went about making a plan to achieve his goal. The move exposed them to
a new way of life, one they might not have experienced in Florida. Through Lily,
they would understand the far-reaching effects discrimination had. This
exposure propelled Ernestine to leave home in search of a cause that she, like
her father, believed in.
 My answer to question #3 – For me, “less” really is not a deal breaker.  It was
truly the best that he could do at the time. In watching my own parents and
grandparents navigate their way though the world, and looking at some of the
challenges I have encountered, I have come to realize that we each do the
very best that we can at the time.

Synopsis
The date is 1950 in Brooklyn, New York, a time where racial tensions in the U.S. are
on the verge of spilling over. America is dealing with the after effects of World War II,
the start of the Cold War, and is bracing itself for the Civil Rights movement. It truly is
a time of change, something that is familiar with the Crump household. Crumbs is a
memory play told through Ernestine, a seventeen year old, African American young
woman whose family is dealing with their own realities of change. Reeling off of the
loss of his wife, Godfrey Crump, Ernestine’s father, is left with the sole responsibility
of raising his two maturing daughters. He finds peace in a televangelist named
“Father Divine,” and moves his family from the south and customs of Florida to
Brooklyn to follow his teachings. Adjusting to this culture shift, Ernestine and her
younger sister, Ermina, seek to find their own way of coping. For Ernestine, her
solace is to escape in the actresses she saw in the movies, and for Ermina, the
attention of young boys. Laced with communist notions, and talks about the Black
revolution, Aunt Lily, the sister to Ernestine’s mother, shakes up the conservative
world that Godfrey desired to create by moving in with the family. Her aim is to
mother her young nieces, and to release them of their father’s teachings. The
tension between free thought, and conservative views proves to be too much for
Godfrey, and he again runs away to find solace; this time without his girls. While
away, he meets a German woman named Gerte, who he falls in love with and
decides to marry. He returns home with his new wife, and his daughters must then
grapple with the idea of having a German stepmother. Gerte and Godfrey’s
relationship is challenged, as they are victims to the cruel world of racism. Can the
family truly “cope” this time and how?
Crumbs is the coming of age story of Ernestine, and the ways in which her family
finds their way—their own peace. Their story is a testament to the challenging nature
of change, and the ways in which to manage it. In the end for the Crump family, “joy
comes in the morning.”

Central Themes of the Play

– Family issues with displacement
– Psychological effects of change
– Bridging cultural divides
– Grieving and bereavement
– Coming of age–progressing into womanhood
– 1950’s in America and themes surrounding:
 Civil rights
 Women's rights
 Free thinking vs. Communism
 Racism
 Interracial marriage and family relationships
 Religion
 Music of the 50's

Playwright Lynn Nottage

Lynn Nottage’s new play, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, enjoyed an extended run
Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre (Lily Award, Drama Desk Nomination) and
most recently at the Geffen Playhouse.  It can be seen this upcoming season at Lyric
Stage in Boston and The Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Her Pulitzer Prize-
winning play Ruined premiered at Manhattan Theatre Club and Goodman Theatre
(OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and
Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play). It subsequently toured widely throughout
US regional theatres and premiered internationally at the Almeida Theatre in
London. The play has since been produced throughout the world, including
Cambodia, Chad, The Caribbean, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and
Germany. Her other plays include Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and
New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play); Fabulation, or The Re-
Education of Undine (OBIE Award); Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las
Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers and POOF!.
Nottage is the recipient of the 2010 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, the
Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize
for Outstanding New American Play (Ruined), Helen Hayes Award (Ruined), the Lee
Reynolds Award, and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. Her other honors
include the 2007 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the National Black Theatre
Festival’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for
Playwriting, the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama, as well as fellowships from
the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists and New
York Foundation for the Arts. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale
School of Drama, where she is currently a visiting lecturer. She is a co-founder and
producer at Market Road Films LLC, a film production company. 
Nottage is a board member for Theatre Communications Group, BRIC Arts Media
Bklyn, Donor Direct Action, The New Black Fest, Voice and Vision, and the
Dramatists Guild.
Themes
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Political engagement in the play

Set almost half a century later, in 1950, Crumbs from the Table of Joy tackles
political option and political activism directly in the references to Lily Ann Green’s
alleged connection to the communist party. The struggle for social justice intrinsic to
the communist ideals invoked in the play goes hand in hand with the struggle for
racial justice and the struggle for women’s rights. As an African American woman
who prides herself on having gained life experience in Harlem, Lily openly redefines
the red scare, the hot issue of the period, as the black scare. She takes upon herself
the role of educating her nieces, Ernestine and Ermina Crump, about class, race and
gender, going beyond and against the Christian discourse that is overtaking the
household owing to their father’s recent conversion to extreme religious devotion as
a means of finding solace after his wife’s death. LILY. Go on say it, tongue won’t fall
out. The communist party, amongst other things. (Ermina giggles.) Oh you find that
funny? (Earnestly.) I ain’t laughing. I suppose ya happy with what you got, a bit of
nothing. Sure I was happy at your age “a little pickaninny” selling hot cakes to the
fishermen. Taking pennies from poor people ain’t a job it’s a chore. This may be New
York, but this still the basement. Don’t none of those crackers want to share any bit
of power with us. That’s what it’s about. Red scare, should be called black scare.
GODFREY: I wish you wouldn’t conniggerate in front of the gal. LILY: You act like
I’m saying dirty words. Worker! Revolutionary! Proletariat! There! Christian! (Crumbs
20) Her words point to “what comprises the bedrock and vitality of racism’s
stronghold” (Williams 23). Lily is vocal about discrimination not only against the
African American minority, but also against the poor. She is not afraid to emphasize
the need to fight for equality in the age of McCarthyism, when being associated with
communism was publicly condemned. She admits to her own situation having
improved as she moved from the South of her childhood (Pensacola, Florida) to the
North (New York City), but she advocates a revolution that would bring black people
access to power structures, meaning decision-making positions that can bring about
social change. As far as gender identity is concerned, Lily sees herself as an
educator in this respect as well. She has her heart set on teaching the girls one thing
or two about feminine self-affirmation. She promotes the need for visibility and self-
confidence by any means available to the African American woman of that time,
even fashion, if necessary. Her “weapon”, a term borrowed from the discourse on
class struggle, is self-fashioning and self-esteem gained by becoming aware of her
beauty and of the envy that she stirs among “white gals”. LILY. (Breaking the
silence.) Ya like my suit? (Ernestine nods.) I bought it on Fifth Avenue, sure did, to
spite those white gals. You know how they hate to see a Negro woman look better
than they do. It’s my own little subversive mission to out dress them whenever
possible. Envy is my secret weapon, babies. If you learn anything from your Auntie
let it be that. (Crumbs 17-18) Moreover, she promotes women’s emancipation when
she elaborates on her choice to remain single: “I am exerting my own will, and since
the only thing ever willed for me was marriage, I choose not to do it” (Crumbs 23).
Thus her feminism becomes an intrinsic part of her political activism. Her lessons are
enlivened by a healthy sense of humor that helps her preserve hope and light-
heartedness in the face of adversity. Her attitude counterbalances her brother-in-
law’s gloominess and strictness, which she does not consider beneficial for her
teenage nieces. Her life philosophy extends to other aspects such as employment.
She combines various strands and ideas to justify her choices. In an almost self-
ironic way, she explains that she cannot hold on to a job since she does not want
fixedness to restrain her liberty of thinking and her strife for freedom. She twists the
reality of racial discrimination around to serve her purpose and finds yet another
reason to take pride in who she is: “Well, babies, a Negro woman with my gumption
don’t keep work so easily. It’s one of the hazards of being an independent thinker. If
I’ve ever had me a job for more than a few weeks then I knew it was beneath me”
(Crumbs 22). Defining herself as an “independent thinker”, she defends herself
against all attacks, always using wit and irony. When her brother-in-law, who works
in a bakery and cares about his good name in the community, reproaches her for
having an inauspicious influence on Ernestine, since the essay the latter produced
as an assignment for school looked at the worker’s plight and had so-called
communist overtones, Lily retorts: “And I suppose I’m to blame for segregation, war
and polio as well” (Crumbs 25), thus diffusing the accusation. She also has the
lucidity and nerve to point to the real sources of tension and oppression, or else the
inequalities in society: “I ain’t the devil, I ain’t paying ya sub-minimum wage Mr.
Goodness” (Crumbs 30), proving that she is aware of the burden that hard-working
African American men carry and sometimes try to unload by misdirecting their anger
and helplessness in the domestic context. She refuses to be blamed for everything
that Godfrey finds problematic in his household after her arrival. Even if her lack of
education combines with discrimination against her seizing an important, truly
transformative role in society, she is intent on preparing the younger generation for a
better, more meaningful life and hence she introduces Ernestine and Ermina to
terms such as “self-determination” in order to pave the way towards subsequent
quests for political involvement: “Self-deter-ma-nision, there’s an uptown word for ya
to digest.” (Crumbs 35). The play reveals not only Lily’s ideals and laudable
intentions, but also her failures. Her attempts to find satisfying work and even
replace her sister as Godfrey’s female partner are not met by success. At the end of
the first act he marries a German immigrant who seems to be the embodiment of the
submissive feminine type he wants around as a role model for his daughters. One of
Lily’s most memorable statements in the play refers to the interracial marriage she
has the chance to observe closely: LILY: You see Ernestine that’s your America.
Negro sitting on his couch with blood dripping down his face. White woman
unscathed and the enemy not more than five years back. You can’t bring order to
this world. You can’t put up curtains and pot plants and have things change. You
really thought you could marry a white woman and enter the kingdom of heaven,
didn’t ya? (Crumbs 55) The passage refers to Godfrey’s return home after being
attacked when taking his wife to the movies, an incident showing societal prejudice
and intolerance for interracial couples. As a matter of fact, Lily does not bemoan the
marriage itself, but the times and the society that place so many obstacles against
African Americans. Also, despite Lily’s initial animosity towards the German intruder,
Gerte, the two women manage to bond. Each learns about the other’s world and
dreams, connecting beyond their differences. Even if German, Gerte is not a Hitler
supporter, as prejudiced Americans around her assume, but someone who suffered
because of the war, as she explains: “I nearly starved to death after the war, I know
quite a bit about pain” (Crumbs 48). She embraces the dream of going to America as
a way to search for a better life. Back home she fell in love with jazz, but knew little
about the African American musicians who created it. Marrying an African American
and having to cope with his family, whose members do not welcome her at first,
turns out to be a trying experience that she faces with courage and patience. At the
end of the fourth scene in the second act (Crumbs 60-61), Gerte and Lily share a
drink and a sense of sisterhood, having successfully overcome their preconceived
ideas and reticence. Lily’s lectures and example in her interaction with others prove
to have a lasting influence on one of her nieces in particular. Ernestine bears
testimony to everything she learned from her aunt in a memorable monologue at the
end of the play: Years from now I’ll read the Communist Manifesto, The Souls of
Black Folk and Black Skin, White Masks and find my dear Lily amongst the pages.
Still years from now I’ll remember my mother and the sweet smelling humid
afternoons by the Florida waters, and then years from now I’ll ride the Freedom bus
back down home enraged and vigilant, years from now I’ll marry a civil servant and
argue about the Vietnam war, integration and the Black Panther movement. (Crumbs
64-65) Her political engagement in the decades that follow seems to be rooted in her
early exposure to the need for mobilization. Her readings include seminal works by
W. E. B. Du Bois2 and Frantz Fanon3 , two thinkers who became influential for the
African American intellectuals of the era. Ernestine takes Lily’s revolutionary legacy
further and strives for African American civil rights in an active way. Reflecting on
this speech, Jaye Austin Williams considers: “She exists in perpetual migration, in
search of the unfindable, and labors within the railing of political movements that
later fall into the impasse of her past” (22). As the struggle continues, she passes on
her ideals to the next generation whose mission may be as hopeless, unless society
as a whole strives to overcome its failings. By choosing to conclude the play with this
powerful monologue, Nottage gives voice not only to one character, but to many
African American women whose efforts for achieving social justice go
unacknowledged in history, but are worth remembering.
Godfrey Crump

Godfrey is thirty-five years old and a widower. His wife, Sandra, passed away, and
Godfrey so relocated his family from Florida to New York City. As of the start of the
play, he has recently begun to follow the teachings and advice of a minister named
Father Divine who leads the Peace Mission Movement. Godfrey found Divine shortly
after his wife’s death, and he was driven to religion because of his distraught state.
When the minister sent his blessing in the mail, Godfrey felt that he had been cured
of his pain. He decided to move to Brooklyn to be closer to Divine and closer to God,
though he did not realize until they arrived that the Peace Mission is not located in
Brooklyn. Godfrey wants his daughters to remain virtuous, virginal, and obedient.
Godfrey does not trust himself to make good decisions or to keep track of important
information. Rather than rely on himself to remember, he writes down all of his
questions so that whenever he meets Father Divine, he can be sure to ask those
questions. He seems to think that if he is obedient and does as Divine does or
instructs that he will feel better and have more success in his life. He does not
question the principles of the Peace Mission, nor does he really understand what
religion is. He can be said to worship Father Divine more than he worships God.
Religion is like a pacifier for him, a thing to soothe him as if he were an upset child.
He is on the whole bewildered by life. Godfrey loves his daughters and wants to give
them a better life than he had, but he does not trust himself to figure out how to go
about achieving this goal.

Ernestine Crump

Ernestine Crump is Godfrey’s older daughter. She is seventeen and as the play
begins she is preparing to graduate from high school. She is smart and thoughtful.
She resents the interference of Divine in her family life. She mostly obeys her
father’s wishes, going with him to church dinners and wearing white dresses. She is
very affected by the appearance of her maternal aunt, Lily, whom she calls “Sister,”
because she is the first outspoken black woman Ernestine has met. Lily is a
communist, a free thinker, opinionated, unmarried, and independent. Ernestine
imbibes Lily’s politics, even writing an essay for school about the Labor Movement
(an action that gets her father branded as a communist, something he finds
upsetting). By the play’s end, she does not want to follow in her father’s footsteps by
taking the job he got her at the bakery. Instead, she wants to follow her aunt,
becoming a free thinker who works for social change. She finds herself at City
College, and graduates a few years later. As an adult, Ernestine will protest the
Vietnam War, fight for civil rights, start a family, and find happiness. Unlike her
father, she makes her own decisions, and trusts herself in ways he could never trust
himself. As a result, she is—and will be—more in charge of her own life.
Symbols

The Radio
Throughout the narrative, the sound of the radio being played in an apartment next
to that of the Crump family represents the existence of the outside world. More
specifically, it represents experiences in that outside world that Ernestine feels are
denied to her, while Godfrey feels like he needs to keep them out.
The Movies
When either Ernestine or the stage directions refer to the movies, they are described
as elements associated with the play's themes of escape, or illusion. They are one
way that Ernestine defines both her reality and her hopes for how reality will change.
Godfrey’s Shoes
Godfrey's shoes represent what he sees as his status and degree of
accomplishment. They are a source and focus of pride for him, a pride that comes
under attack from Lily when she makes fun of both the shoes and how well he
takes...

Key Reviews: Revolution in ‘Crumbs From

the Table of Joy’
These are the third set of reviews from this year’s The Key: Young Critics Mentorship
Program. Members of this cohort are: Sierra Carlson, Yasmin Mikhaiel, Aaron
Lockman, Elon Sloan, and Lonnae Hickman. All reviews are workshopped and
edited by co-facilitators Oliver Sava and Regina Victor. Check out their reviews
of Crumbs from the Table of Joy at Raven Theatre below! 

Yasmin Mikhaiel
Crumbs from the Table of Joy at Raven Theatre is the story of a bereaved family;
newly religious devotee Godfrey Crump (Terence Sims) and his two teenage
daughters, Ernestine (Chanell Bell) and Ermina (Brandi Jiminez Lee). After the death
of the mother, the family moves from Florida to New York, leaving them to grapple
with the difficulties of being in a new place with different rules. They are soon joined
by the provocative Aunt Lily (Brianna Buckley), sister to their late mother and wife.
Under the direction of Tyrone Phillips, women are the ones who persevere through
the darkness.
Raven Theatre, currently in its 36th season, has a history of producing classic
modern dramas. It does not have a history of producing work of and by people of
color. With new artistic director Cody Estle at the helm of his first season, Crumbs
from the Table of Joy is a heartening choice as the season opener, one that was
welcomed by an eager audience. The playwright Lynn Nottage is a twice-winning
awardee of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the first woman to do so. She’s revered for
writing work that covers issues that don’t make it into the media, and her 1950s tale
does not seem so far from home.
Set in their basement apartment, the set is gorgeously period and playful, with
beautiful architecture that serves multiple purposes (scenic design Arnel Sancianco).
The back brick walls of sponged clouds envelop the Crump basement apartment,
along it, exposed pipes course floor-to-ceiling. Truthfully, the set might be too
beautiful, for the Crumps are constantly mentioning their lower-class status in home-
made clothes. Thus, further rooting us, are the costumes (Christine Pascual) and
wigs (Megan Pirtle), expertly designed and emphasizing the dichotomy between
country and city styling.
It is a time of upheaval, much like ours, social and political tensions are plagued with
racism and a Red Scare. This is a memory play from the perspective of Ernestine,
one that bounces between her recollections and how she wishes events went down.
We pick up on the pattern as gorgeous lights (Kathy A. Perkins) signal a shift to her
dreams, especially in a late night mambo with the potential to diffuse matriarchal
tension. But we quickly snap back to the more dim reality of familial uncertainty in the
face of a spiraling man seeking direction.

I hurt so hard for the teen sisters, dressed country and shocked with new city living
without a mother. Godfrey is unaware to their needs and is unable to offer anything
but cookies as a token of affection. Here, the production lags, the energy solemn—
until the smartly dressed Aunt Lily, talking revolution and empowerment, enters. The
girls and the show instantly transform. We soon see they can hold their own. The
younger of the two, Ermina, truly emanates strength and rolls up her sleeves,
sometimes literally, to be taken seriously and get noticed. The more studious
Ernestine has to try a little harder to make her way.

When a major twist further alters their home life, questions of white guilt, unity, and
the impossibility of ignoring race come rushing forward. It is here where the
necessity of this play in our own dark timeline shines through. But one must question
who this production is truly for when ticket prices are three to four times the hourly
minimum wage in Chicago. A lower-middle class family like the Crump’s certainly
couldn’t afford it.
Ultimately, Crumbs from the Table of Joy reminds us that change doesn’t come
easy, especially when the places we view as safe are among the most dangerous
and potentially unwelcoming. When visiting Raven, take along a trusted friend as
conversation is a post-show must.

Lonnae Hickman
Raven Theatre Company’s Crumbs From The Table Of Joy by Lynn Nottage and
directed by Tyrone Phillips is about a family who moves to Brooklyn after suffering
from the loss of a loved one. This play centers around a retelling by Ernestine Crump
(Chanell Bell), and her experiences growing out of girlhood. It makes a statement of
change, and leaves the audience with Ernestine’s beautiful and tragic memories.

When I walked into Raven Theatre’s house, I was struck by the set. Ethereal clouds
showcased by brick surrounded the open apartment set. While the play setting is all
over the city, the literal set stays still. The scenic and lighting designers, Arnel
Sancianco and Kathy A. Perkins, collaborate with fluidity to create sensory
immersion of a memory. I was able to know every moment the setting changed and
where the characters were. The sound design (Matt Test) also guides the shows
themes and transitions allowing us to be transported to a New York basement. This
show is constantly guided by its design and tech controlling the audience’s
perspective. Really all the design elements were so full of life, including the period
costumes (Christine Pascual). One of my favorite tech design moments was being
transported inside the subway car, by only lights and sound. It felt as if there was a
completely new set design. This speaks to the impeccable detail of every designer
on the production team.

Here’s where this is a double edged sword. While, the set was striking the motivation
to tell the story seemed lacking.The actors in this show seemed to be less thrilled to
be performing Crumbs From the Table of Joy. Everytime an actor flubbed a line,
which was often, it took me a little out of the story. It devalued impactful moments of
tension. Could this be because Raven Theatre has little to no history of creating
shows for people of color? I don’t know. What I do know is that there was an
inconsistency with the vision for the script, and what each actor interpreted. It wasn’t
until Brianna Buckley, as the aunt Lily Anne Green, entered that the show regained
interest. Her character was full of complexity in both the writing and performance,
and I found myself empathizing with her every action. Her character had motivation
for every single thing she did, on and offstage.

The play itself is long and wordy, and this may be why there was an initial lack of
energy from the actors. This show tackles many ideas that it can be hard for any
director to effortlessly juggle. Seeing a family of only Black faces on stage telling
their story was compelling, and I want to see more. Let me make it clear again, I
want to see more shows like this. I want to see family dramas of every shade, but I
don’t want institutions to perform them because diversity is “in”. This show has
similarities to my own life that make the writing and moments in the play very
impactful. We deserve to see shows like this one that give meaning. What does this
story mean to the artist onstage and its mostly white audience? Raven’s Theatre’s
show has some of the most impressive designs and tech that I’ve seen, but the
production needs to know it means more than just seeing “diversity” onstage.

Elon Sloan
Raven Theatre’s production of Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage
follows the Crump family through the year 1950 as they move from rural
Pennsylvania to New York. In the wake of his wife’s death Godfrey Crump moves his
two daughters to New York which he thinks is closer to Father Divine, a mail
correspondence pastor.

This show has its hitches here and there but its held tightly together by the vision of
its director Tyrone Phillips. The eldest daughter, Ernestine, played by Chanel Bell, is
the main character and narrator. She loves going to the movies and her fanciful
cinematic insertions shape the story, and contribute the the overall warm tone of the
story.
The play fits neatly between family drama and memory play, but thematically it ties
together conversations about Communism, Black masculinity, interracial marriage,
good parenting, and how Christian faith should play out in daily life and politics. It
also maintains a nostalgic period drama feel without the usual historical revisionism.
Contemporary plays that wish to take on politics are sometimes all drama, and no
political content, but Lynn Nottage is an expert at balancing here.

The set design helps us get inside Ernestine’s head as well. The set by Arnel
Sancianco features a living and dining room with frame walls and fluffy clouds
painted onto the cinder blocks of the back wall of the theatre. The theatre feels huge
when you walk in. This clouds on cinder blocks look encapsulates Ernestine’s
mindset well. She’s dreaming of the romance of a revolution like her Communist
aunt, Lily, but it is also clear that real danger and bleakness lie ahead for her if she
chooses that path. My only qualm with the set is that the Crumps’ apartment looks
more like a comfortable middle class home cut in half, than the tight barely habitable
Brooklyn apartment the characters constantly reference.

The lighting, done by Kathy A. Perkins, also helps highlight Ernestine’s mindset.
Ernestine’s cinematic moments are often accompanied by an odd pink and blue light.
This light can feel dreamy when it’s just a bit of side light highlighting the actors
features, but it feels otherworldly and adds tension when appropriate. The lighting
reminds us that we’re wading with Ernestine through her fondest memories of a time
filled with danger and loss.

Overall, this is a lovely show which also carries meaning. This is really the kind of
play that makes you want to sit down and have long talk afterwards, where you fill in
the gaps and parse out the implications of what you just saw.

The title of Crumbs from the Table of Joy comes from the Langston
Hughes' poem Luck.

And while the play at Freefall Theatre is not about luck per se, it deals
with the human experience of finding those nuggets of happiness and
strength buried in difficult times.

Lynn Nottage's touching memory play is told from the point of view of
Ernestine Crump (Alicia Thomas), a teenager who has moved from
Pensacola to Brooklyn in 1950 with her father and sister. The family
members are mourning the loss of their wife and mother, each
grieving in their own way. For Godfrey Crump (Michael Kinsey), it's
through the teachings of an evangelist named Father Divine. Younger
sister Ermina (Rae Davis) is feisty and angry, ready to fight at the
quick. Ernestine copes by focusing on her studies.
As narrator, Thomas moves around the theater framing her
recollections with a mix of youthful idealism and mature wit. When
she steps back in the scene, she nails the character's timid obedience,
layered with imagination and curiosity. It's her coming of age story.

The play, directed by Jacqueline Thompson, has a jazz score that

effectively sets the time period. The beats and horns add emphasis to
the action. Footage from films of the era, including of jazz clubs and
news reels, are cleverly projected onto the set.

While the Crumps adjust to living in the big city in a tiny basement
apartment, racial tensions are illustrated. Away from their insulated
community in Pensacola, the Crumps have more exposure to white
people in Brooklyn. Godfrey makes several references to racial
differences with the phrase, "they white."

Ideas get more radical upon the arrival of Lily Ann Green (Trenell
Mooring), sister of the girls' mother. She's lived in Harlem, which
Ernestine describes as the "promised land." She's a self-proclaimed
Communist who claims to be part of a Negro revolution. She drinks,
smokes and goes dancing at jazz bars all night long. And she is critical
of Godfrey's devotion to Father Divine, who is clearly selling him a bill
of goods. Ernestine is fascinated by her.

After the biggest of his many blowups with Lily, Godfrey suddenly
shows up married to a German woman he met on the subway. Gerte
(Emilee Dupre) is not welcomed by the girls and especially not by Lily.
Points about interracial relationships and racial stereotypes emerge
through these exchanges.

The barrage of ideas come as fast as the beats of a jazz drum, carried
along by witty dialogue and poignant moments. Lily's monologues
about the black experience in America are richly layered. Godfrey
struggles to do what he thinks is right for "the gals." Gerte grapples
with the notion that she'll never be accepted by this family. Ernestine
and Ermina grow up, but their futures will be very different. Every
character is complex in the way they deal with the trauma of upheaval.

A jazz metaphor describes Ernestine's hopeful journey of self-

discovery. Taking the best bits from all of her influences, she keeps
riffing through life, the improvisational way we navigate our own
paths.
. The two girls--Ernestine in particular--driven by her goal of graduating high school
in the coming summer, are taken by their aunt’s unfamiliar and daring ways and both
struggle against the control of their father and the church he so desperately
worships. Centered on the Crump family who have moved from Florida to New York
City in the 1950’s, eldest daughter, Ernestine, is our protagonist. Ernestine, 17, is the
protagonist whose eyes guide us through this story, told through the fantasy haze of
her memory, so similar to the finished perfection of the films Ernestine comes to
love.

Undeniable hope swells as Crumbs From the Table of Joy finds its conclusion, and
Ernestine readies herself to take on the world and her future in all their complexities.
Crumbs from the Table of Joy and Mud, River, Stone are two plays written by Lyn
Notagge that reveal her magnificent playwright skills. Lynn Nottage, one of America’s
foremost playwrights, has created a nostalgic look at a slice of The Great Migration
with Crumbs From the Table of Joy. It is an outcry against the tribulations that people
of color had to face during this time period. It's a comedy that tickles, a drama that
tugs at the heart, a memory play that revels in nostalgia and a coming-of-age story
that, in its own unique way, hits a chord with all of us. Directed by Paul K. Bryant-
Jackson. But finding solace in Father Devine and the Peace Mission Movement, he
pulls up stakes and moves his teenage … The production runs two more weekends
through April 14, and you won’t be disappointed by this evening of quirky characters
who find themselves wading through cultural clashes, social changes and questions
of faith and identity. The play was commissioned by Second Stage, as part of their
program for teen audiences. Run Time: 2 Hours (with one intermission) Get Tickets;
… Her plays have been produced at theaters throughout the country. • With
Ernestine guiding the way through the recollections of the adolescence that shaped
her future womanhood, Nottage weaves an impeccable tapestry of resilience,
daydreams, everyday heartbreak, and what it means to feel like an outsider fighting
to better yourself and your community. In 1950, seventeen year-old Ernestine’s world
is turned upside down when her widowed father, Godfrey, moves her and her
younger sister to Brooklyn in search of a better life. Lily, the girls’ worldly communist
aunt, is at odds with Godfrey and his new wife Gerte.

As Nottage teaches us, we all come from somewhere, and we should be proud of
where we come from, no matter how imperfect it may be.

Crumbs from the Table of Joy is an exploration of racism, feminism and the
challenging nature of change.

What listeners say about Crumbs from the Table of Joy. All things considered, this
phrase is a mere euphemistic rewording of the earlier crumbs from a rich man’s
table, denoting an unjustly small share of something in contrast to a large share
taken by someone else.
The play is set in the 1950’s, which makes the obstacles for an African
American family even broader. All the characters in the play that Nottage
presents are involved in a life cycle that needs to be renovated. The plot
rotates around Godfrey Crump, who is going to a huge transition in his life.
Dealing with a loss, he has to manage to keep his strength and transform the
crumbs of his life into joy.

Questions

1.Compare the way in which movies are contrasted with reality in Lynn
Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy 

2.Consider how large-scale racial conflicts are presented on a personal

and familial level in Lynn Nottage's Crumbs from the Table of Joy.

3.The theme of racism may also be addressed by referring to the opinions

expressed in the play:
"It ain't normal for a white lady to be living in a house with colored folks."
Comment on how far Ermina's remark is justified by the events of Crumbs
from the Table of Joy.
4. Examine the figure of Father Divine and his influence on the Crump
family. How do the family members differ in their reaction to him, and
why? What is his overall effect on the family, for good or evil?
5. Crumbs from the Table of Joy is an exploration of racism, feminism and the
challenging nature of change.