History at the Coterie theater: Young audiences learn about Rosa Parks

The crisply staged production of “Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott” at the Coterie features strong performances and some exceptional vocal music.

It’s not a musical per se, but gospel standards are woven into playwright Sue Greenberg’s account of an iconic moment in the civil rights movement — the refusal of Parks, a 42-year-old seamstress and activist, to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated city bus in Montgomery, Ala.

The year was 1955, and the resulting boycott by African-Americans, most of whom relied on the city bus system to get to their jobs, became an immediate symbol of passive resistance. It also cast a national spotlight on a a dynamic young preacher named Martin Luther King, who helped lead the boycott and insisted on nonviolent protests.

Greenberg’s play covers all the basics. As educational theater aimed at viewers so young they know nothing about the civil rights era, it succeeds. As drama, it leaves something to be desired. “Show, don’t tell” is the axiom universally drummed into beginning writers, but Greenberg’s play is all telling.

The characters spend more time speaking to the audience than to each other. The result is a historical narrative told from various points of views that lacks much passion. The “bad guys” are, of course, white racists who resisted change, but we only glimpse them in passing — a disagreeable bus driver, an indifferent reporter, a cop with an attitude, a close-minded judge. These characters, all played adequately by Michael Ott, don’t seem particularly threatening. Absent from the stage are the reactionary whites who planted a bomb under King’s front porch.

Antonia Washington plays Parks with charisma, humor and unforced optimism. Her fellow actors play multiple roles, with Frank Oakley III emerging with an impressive performance as King. Shon Ruffin grabs our attention repeatedly as young Rosa and Coretta Scott King, among others. Cindy K. Siefers plays a white woman sympathetic to the cause, and Ott balances out his string of bad guys with a nice performance as a white preacher who believes in equality.

The imposing Ron Lackey efficiently fills the roles of Sylvester, Rosa’s brother, and activist E.D. Nixon. And veteran actress Sherri Roulette-Mosley takes on a range of small roles, bringing specificity to each.

Brad Shaw did triple duty on this show — in addition to directing, he acted as musical director and designed the costumes — and does strong work across the board. Trevor Frederiksen’s nonrealistic set, atmospherically illuminated by Art Kent’s lighting, lends coherence to an episodic script that often seems fragmentary.

This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 12:25 PM.