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Tuesday, 14 February 2012 17:19

Written by Sharon Eberson

A Bloomberg News theater review of Yale Rep's "Good Goods" had enough local flavor that I thought I'd pass it along:

Yale Repertory Theatre is where August Wilson began his unmatched cycle about life in a black enclave of Pittsburgh. Those 10 plays unselfconsciously shifted between realism and ghost story, tall tale and religious experience.

Christina Anderson, whose “Good Goods” has just opened at the Rep, has some Wilson coursing through her veins.

Clifton Duncan and Kyle Beltran in "Good Goods."

Stacey is the prodigal, the owner’s birth son, who has come back after years on the road as an entertainer with Patricia (de’Adre Aziza). Patricia also shows up, with Sunny (Angela Lewis) a sweet girl she met on the bus. Rounding out the company is Wire (CMU's Kyle Beltran, seen in Pittsburgh in the touring company of "In the Heights"), with whom Truth shares a secret.

Much of what transpires on James Schuette’s beautiful homespun set is the poetry of unsung lives unfolding in places barely drawn on any map. But when an accident in a nearby factory takes the life of a neighbor, his soul invades Sunny’s body and some hell breaks loose. A place we think we may know becomes as exotic as a distant world.

Anderson, abetted by Tina Landau’s assured direction, is a voice to reckon with. Lewis, most recently seen in “Milk Like Sugar” at Playwrights Horizons, is memorable as the possessed Sunny. Tugging at her bindings and growling imprecations, Lewis is bottled ferocity in a knockout performance that makes a trip to New Haven eminently worthwhile.

“Good Goods,” through Feb. 25 at 1120 Chapel St., New Haven, Conn., 203-432-1234; www.yalerep.org.

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