South Bend Civic Theatre continues August Wilson cycle with ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’

SOUTH BEND — South Bend Civic Theatre continues its 10-play August Wilson Century Cycle with “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” through May 28 at 403 N. Main St.

Written in 1982 and set in 1927 in Chicago, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” takes place in a recording studio where blues singer Ma Rainey’s band has gathered for a recording session.

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As musicians Cutler, Toledo, Slow Drag and Levee wait for Ma Rainey’s arrival, tensions within the band grow, with the younger Levee revealing his desire to lead his own band and his contempt for his older colleagues.

When Rainey arrives, the situation becomes more tense as she argues for control with her white producer as Wilson explores the economic exploitation of Black artists and cultural conflicts of the time.

In 1984, the play became the first of Wilson’s to be produced on Broadway and is the only one in the Century Cycle not set in Pittsburgh.

Although Wilson’s story is fictional, Ma Rainey was a legendary, influential and independent-minded blues singer and he titled the play after one of her biggest hits, the dance-craze song “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

Known as “The Mother of the Blues,” Rainey’s other hits include “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” “Prove It on Me Blues,” “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “See See Rider Blues.”

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The play also refers to Rainey’s bisexuality with the implication that she and the character of Dussie Mae are lovers.

Rated PG-13 for language, murder and talk of rape.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. May 25-27 and at 2 p.m. May 28.

Tickets are $35-$27.

For more information, call 574-234-1112 or visit sbct.org.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom extends South Bend Civic's Wilson cycle