When she wrote “Wine in the Wilderness,” playwright Alice Childress seems to have been kind of fed up. One of the first Black women writers to have her work performed regularly in New York theaters, she’d evidently grown impatient with how Black artists, academics and intellectuals too often distanced themselves from what life was like for the average Black American.

So she wrote a play that addressed these class divisions, seasoning it with lots of humor, but eventually letting those oblivious to their privilege have it with a searing monologue that feels cathartic when you experience it in a theater.

Especially when delivered with the passion accorded it by Nubia Monks in Penumbra Theatre’s production of “Wine in the Wilderness.” Monks caps a tour de force performance with a thrilling rejection of the arrogance the haves too often subject upon the have-nots. It’s the climax of a well-executed staging helmed by Penumbra founder Lou Bellamy, one with a very believable naturalism throughout the five-actor cast and a wonderfully evocative set by Seitu Jones.

The play takes its title from a section of 12th-century Persian poet Omar Khayyam’s “Rubaiyat,” but it feels very much about 1964 America, when the civil rights movement was in full blossom and educational and economic fortunes were improving for many Black Americans. In this story, artist Bill Jameson is attempting to complete a triptych featuring three images of Black women, and seeks a model who repres

ents a kind of woman he disdains, uneducated and poverty-stricken.

Tommy, left, played by Nubia Monks, and Cynthia, played by Vinecia Coleman, in Penumbra Theatre Company’s production of “Wine in the Wilderness,” Alice Childress’ 1969 drama about a woman coming into her own identity during a riot in 1964 New York City.The show runs Feb. 20-March 17, 2024 at the St. Paul theater. (Caroline Yang / Penumbra Theatre)

He gets more than he bargains for when Tommy comes into his life amid a riot in New York’s Harlem neighborhood. Her apartment above a grocery store has been torched and she’s on the street, but finds a place to briefly stay when Bill’s neighbors bring her home. The disparate life experiences between these successful artists and professionals and this working-class woman (“Born in Harlem, but backcountry,” as Bill says) create a fascinating friction, even as an unlikely romance might be taking root.

Monks makes Tommy a compelling figure, a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to speak her mind, but also has a vulnerable side as she seeks a partner and can’t understand the rejection she confronts.

Childress offers in contrast Cynthia, a social worker portrayed with cool calm by Vinecia Coleman. In her coaching of Tommy to be more demure and deferential to men, the author lays out that there are some aspects of this “revolution” that aren’t very revolutionary at all.

In that regard, La’Tevin Alexander has a tough task in inviting the audience’s sympathies as Bill. It’s clear from early on that this artist intent on saying something important about being Black has some significant blind spots about his own prejudices. While Alexander does his best to flesh out this conflicted personality, Childress paints him into a bit of a corner, Darrick Mosley facing an even tougher task as his enabling writer friend.

One who does a lot with an underwritten role is James Craven as an aging alcoholic the others call “Oldtimer.” Although he shies away from joining Tommy in her vitriolic pushback against the others’ arrogance, Craven projects a palpable strength that suggests some unspoken wisdom.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

‘Wine in the Wilderness’

When: Through March 17

Where: Penumbra Theatre, 270 N. Kent St., St. Paul

Tickets: $45-$20, available at 651-224-3180 or penumbratheatre.org

Capsule: Nubia Monks’ knockout performance sparks a fiery tale of class clash.

Related Articles

The Playwrights’ Center, moving to St. Paul after its current season, has named a new artistic director

Chita Rivera, revered and pioneering Tony-winning dancer and singer, dies at 91

With History Theatre production ‘Handprints,’ Greta Oglesby shares the songs in her heart

A Q&A with incoming Children’s Theatre artistic director Rick Dildine

Theater review: Guthrie Theater’s ‘Dial M for Murder’ tempts the audience to root for the villain