"Guitars" in a Minor Key

“Seven Guitars” is not a musical. It’s a mystery play with dancing, singing and one guitar in the pawn shop. But August Wilson’s 1995 drama is a harmony of voices remembered from his old neighborhood, the Hill District of Pittsburgh, where all the voices have migrated from the south.

It’s the opening work in Marin Theatre Company’s 45th season, part of the playwright’s Century Cycle, and a Wilson first for MTC. Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis says he wants to produce all ten of the Century plays, but began with this one because it “branches out to the other plays in myriad ways.”

Its set (by J.B. Wilson) recalls August Wilson’s childhood home and the brick-walled inner yard of an apartment building with its rickety fence in the center and a steep, Thiebaud -like hill rising behind. At first, the stage is dim, the actors dressed in black. They’ve just come from Floyd’s funeral. Vera insists that angels were Floyd’s pallbearers, and nobody argues with her. She’s the most bereaved. The crow of a rooster signals a return to Floyd’s past, and blackout intervals of the blues play through scene changes.

Floyd “Schoolboy” Barton (he insists upon using his street name) is back in town after serving ninety days for vagrancy, an injustice he feels every hour of his existence. But Floyd is also elated, trying to reconnect with his sweetheart Vera and get her to come with him to Chicago. Floyd made a record before he went to jail, and now Savoy Records there wants him to make another. And Muddy Waters is in Chicago!

Vera’s still smarting from Floyd’s previous fling with Pearl Brown, but Floyd is charming, and she’s beginning to weaken. Her upstairs neighbor, Louise, “forty-eight, goin’ on sixty,” says she knows just what to do with a man who’s leaving. Louise is a nonstop smoker who uses a cigarette to punctuate her conversation. She’s expecting her niece, Ruby, to arrive any minute.

Hedley, a street preacher, chicken farmer and cigarette dealer, peppers his own conversation with Biblical predictions and fantasies about the plantation he’s going to buy someday; his dead father will return and bring him the money, he says. Floyd’s old friend Canewell has heard Floyd’s back in town, and he drops by, as does Red. The three talk about reviving the band and improvise a blues trio there in the yard. Then Hedley returns to the yard, bringing another instrument that puts a stop to everything.

However, the whole neighborhood unites around the Joe Louis fight that night. They string lights, gather close to the broadcast, follow every blow, and break into dancing when Louis wins.

“Seven Guitars” New York director, Kent Gash, understands movement, and he plays the stage like an instrument. Its most satisfying sequences move. Its least satisfying talk too much. The playwright was in love with these voices and with his mother’s culture -- she was black; his father was white -- but much of the dialogue is excessive and slows the play’s momentum. Two delightful exceptions are the scenes in which the women discuss the men, and the men discuss their weapons.

Marin Theatre Company has assembled an all- professional cast for its opening production. Tobie Windham portrays the hopeful and desperate Floyd, with Omoze Idehenre as the reluctant Vera. Floyd’s buddies, Red Carter and Canewell, are played by L. Peter Callender and Marc Damon Johnson. Sinelle Azoroh shows up late in the first act as Ruby, who arrives bringing a secret. Margo Hall plays Louise with well-seasoned sassiness. Charles Branklyn has the large, demanding role of half-demented Hadley.

August Wilson’s characters don’t grow or change, though, and that’s a disappointment.

“Seven Guitars”can be seen at the Marin Theatre Company in Mill Valley through September 4. Performances are every day but Monday, and ticket prices range from $34 to $55. Discounts are available for youth, seniors and group sales.

For complete information, call the box office at 388-5208 or see the website, marintheatre.org.