The four Jernigan half-sisters return to their childhood home off the coast of Georgia to complete the quilt that will honor their recently deceased mother, and rip into secrets that can tear apart the troubled family in The Blood Quilt, a story of sisterly love and drama by Pulitzer Prize winner Katori Hall (The Hot Wing King, The Mountaintop), and directed by Resident Director Lileana Blain-Cruz (Flex, Pipeline, White Girl in Danger) that premiered in 2015 at Arena Stage (Washington, DC) and will run November 21 through December 29, 2024 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street) the Off-Broadway venue of Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Producing Artistic Director, in New York City.
The time-honored African ancestral tradition of quilt-making is a rite that goes back as far as slaves who sewed cryptic messages to communicate with one another and survive. The dramatization of this family’s annual quilting bee ritual was inspired by Katori Hall’s own family, as the playwright actually comes from a quilting family. Her grandmother, “Big Mama,” who makes on average five quilts a year, taught Hall how to use the scraps and pieces that other people have discarded to make something amazing and new, which she likens to her writing process. She artfully crafted what the character Gio describes as the “hole” sisters – four sisters from four different fathers – that innately weaves an arch competition between the women. Possessing varying levels of accomplishment and education, each one has her own “father story.” So when the youngest sister, Amber, an entertainment attorney, announces that mama left a will in the cookie jar and appointed her to read it, their collective “mother story” literally explodes.
As new information and confessions swirl throughout, the play stays grounded in the central crisis of the $256,000 in unpaid taxes on the house. The house is the hub of the quilts, the home everyone adores, and the place where the eldest sister, Clementine (Crystal Dickinson) a midwife who was the main caregiver, still lives. Other storylines include the clashes between Gio, a cop, (Adrienne C. Moore) and Amber (Lauren E. Banks), and nurse Cassan (Susan Kelechi Watson) with her 15-year-old activist daughter, Zambia (Mirirai). The ensemble is strong, each actress captivates and touches your heart, though I lost some of the dialogue due to volume and dialects.
It is visually alluring. The set by Adam Rigg is transportive, and brings us to the fictional Kwemera Island in the eclectic and colorful bi-level house with waterfront views and a front garden, decorated floor to ceiling with the most incredible hanging quilts. Costumes by Montana Levi Blanco are just right, the lighting by Jiyoun Chang was enticing, and the sound by Palmer Hefferan and projections by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew complete the ambiance. All is expertly stage managed by Theresa Flanagan.
The Blood Quilt stitched storylines that gripped me emotionally until the play’s end. While I understood how much of it tied up, I was left hanging with several unanswered questions and loose threads. When Hall took quilting lessons from her grandmother she learned to “hand-piece,” which she feels an essential and remarkable way of putting together quilts. Perhaps, it is also the way for each of us to put together a life.
For more information please visit The Blood Quilt website.
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