At the end of act one of “bee-luther-hatchee,” now at Northlight Theatre in Skokie, audience members are left reeling when Shane Williams, as Manhattan editor Shelita Burns, gets the shock of her life.
In this debate-provoking production, Williams plays the savvy, career-driven Burns, who hits the jackpot with the moving memoirs of a 72-year-old African-American woman named Libby Price. Without revealing too much, we can say that when Burns suddenly comes face-to-face with her prize-winning author, she is, to put it mildly, stunned and shaken by the encounter. The Tribune’s Richard Christiansen called the actress’ portrayal of Burns “superb.”
For Williams, who grew up in Rogers Park, attended Evanston Township High School and graduated from DePaul University’s theater school in 1989, the vivacious, volatile character of Shelita Burns is the latest in a string of tasty roles, both onstage and onscreen.
“I have just been very blessed to have had a diverse career so far,” said Williams, who appeared in the Goodman Theatre’s “Black Star Line” (she was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson best actress award for that performance), in the Court Theatre’s “Othello” and “The Mystery Cycle,” and in “Hamlet” and the Shakespearean spoof “Good Night Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)” at San Diego Repertory Theatre.
In that West Coast production, “I played Desdemona to a white man’s Othello–thus the comedy,” said the actress, who added that early in her career, there were a few “lean months” when ramen noodles were the main course. She supported herself with various off-stage jobs, including a bartending stint at Buddy Guy’s Legends, the South Loop blues club. “In fact, I sang with him,” she added.
Five years ago, Williams (formerly known as Shanesia Davis) won what many actors believe is the plummiest of plums: a primary role on a long-running television series. She co-starred from 1996-2000 in CBS’ “Early Edition,” playing Marissa Clark, the blind co-worker of Gary Hobson (Kyle Chandler), who got his morning paper a day early, and with it, news of disasters he tried to avert.
In pursuit of the role, Williams did a videotaped audition here that was sent to Los Angeles. “Then I got one of those cliche calls at four o’clock in the morning saying, `You’re going to L.A.,'” recalled the actress. “So I went, and six or seven hours later, I had the gig.”
For the audition, she chose not to wear dark glasses as the blind Marissa. “Instead, I bought [a sleep mask] from Walgreens and wore it around the house, and then I trained myself to look away from faces,” said Williams. “I did that with the director, and I guess it worked.”
For the actress, who got hooked on performing as a kid watching Lucille Ball in “I Love Lucy” reruns, old black-and-white Bette Davis movies, including “All About Eve,” and “SCTV” with John Candy, the “bee-luther-hatchee” role has offered a unique opportunity to engage in an “intellectual debate about the sacredness of one’s culture.” Does one person have the right to tell the story of another person’s life, especially if the author’s background is vastly different from the subject’s?
In fact, her own brainy, emotionally vulnerable character was created by a white middle-aged male. Philadelphia-based “bee-luther-hatchee” author Thomas Gibbons writes often about the black experience. “The character works,” said Williams, calling Burns “interesting and complex–a well-rounded African-American woman. . . . You can use your imagination and write about someone else’s life.”
Williams’ next project is “Drowning Crow,” adapted by Regina Taylor from Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” at the Goodman. “I’m just rolling one thing into another,” said the actress. “I don’t want to catch my breath.”
