Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman Plays a Daring Game of Truth and Consequences

St. Louis theatergoers interested in challenging and entertaining drama should catch Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman, featuring Cameron Jamarr as Clay and Eileen Engel as Lula, presented by Soul Siren Playhouse. The seldom-performed yet still relevant play is an intense and pointed deconstruction of the story of Adam and Eve. This Eve also plays the snake.

Clay, a Black, well-dressed professional, is riding the train home after work. During a stop, he and Lula, a casually dressed white woman standing on the platform, notice each other. Their eyes meet briefly, then she walks away and he returns to his thoughts. Clay doesn’t see Lula board the train but she ensures she gets his attention — and interest.

Lula manipulates Clay at every turn, first accusing him of staring at her ass, then flirting and teasing, then shaming, then verbally abusing and finally attacking him. She uses stereotypical assumptions to compel him to interact, but as soon as he responds she radically changes her approach. When Clay finally explodes in a well-reasoned rage that breaks down restrictive social constructs, Lula viciously turns on him before ordering the other passengers on the train to get rid of him. Settling into her seat, she notices a new passenger — a Black, well-dressed professional…

Jamarr and Engel move deftly through the emotionally and physically volatile space with complete trust in each other as performers. The two create smoldering chemistry that’s sparked by a bite from a crisp apple mimicking the sound of a match strike. Jamarr is cool, calm and in control as Clay, resisting temptation as long as he can and yet willingly surrendering to the trap he clearly sees. Engel is a manic, mercurial force with the allure of a siren and the deadly sting of Medusa. Together, they mesmerize the audience with the kind of fatalistic slow burn that you can’t turn away from, even as you fear the conclusion you sense.

With just a few key elements, set designer Bradford Rolen puts audiences inside a busy, well-used commuter train. Lighting designer Lenny Banks and sound designer De’Janna Scales-Hand bring the train to life, creating a sense of crowded isolation that metaphorically underscores the story arc and themes. Soul Siren’s show is playing at Greenfinch Theatre and Dive, and the waxing and waning hum of the bar on the other side of the theater wall adds atmospheric texture to the moody, ever-shifting production.

Uncomfortable truths crystallize in this sexually charged confrontation between a Black man trying to get ahead in the world and a white woman knowingly complicit with the institutions trying to push him down. Though Clay is educated and well dressed, as a Black man he finds himself alone, fighting to survive an encounter he did not seek. The story is layered and complex, heightened by the fact that, at the heart of things, little has changed in the 60 years since this play was first written and performed.

Dutchman is strictly for adults and contains frank language, sexual content, racial slurs, curses and verbal abuse as well as some violence, though every moment absolutely serves to move the plot forward. Mature audiences who appreciate thoughtful, provocative theater and can handle purposeful discomfort should make a point to see this drama. There’s raw beauty, poetic lyricism and visceral truths in Baraka’s artfully crafted and convincingly performed play that will likely linger in your mind for days.

Written by Amiri Bakara. Directed by Cameron Jamarr, Eileen Engel, Bradford Rolen and Zahria Moore. Presented by Soul Siren Playhouse at Greenfinch Theater & Dive Robert J. Reim Theater, 111 South Geyer Road, Kirkwood; 314-822-5855(2525 South Jefferson Avenue) through Sunday, February 18. Showtimes vary, and admission is free. More information at greenfinchstl.com.
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