Sump’n Like Wings

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If you have ever heard of playwright Lynn Riggs, it would probably be because of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s landmark musical Oklahoma! which was based on his 1930 folk drama Green Grow the Lilacs. The most important playwright to come out of Oklahoma, Riggs (1899 – 1954), a gay member of the Cherokee tribe, wrote 30 plays in his career with six of them appearing on Broadway from 1927 – 1950. The Mint Theater Company which specializes in rediscovering worthy forgotten, lost and neglected plays is presenting the New York premiere of his 1925 Sump’n Like Wings which has previously had only a single American performance at the Detroit Playhouse in 1931.

While Sump’n Like Wings is a lovely little play about a feisty 16-year-old girl who wants her independence in the 1913-16 period just after Oklahoma became a state, unfortunately Raelle Myrick-Hodges’ production is limp and undramatic, not making a good case for restoring this play to the American repertory. Ironically, while the fact that Riggs was gay and a Native American is being publicized by this production, neither of these themes appear in this play. The use of Junghyun Georgia Lee’s unit set for all five scenes makes the play seem thinner than it is and the beautiful poetry and high flown language of Green Grow the Lilacs (made available in the collection The Cherokee Night and Other Plays from University of Oklahoma Press) is nowhere in evidence in this play. Most of the important events take place offstage, unlike some of Riggs’ other plays.

The plot of Sump’n Like Wings’ five scenes is rather thin. Mariah Lee plays Willie Baker, a scrappy, individualistic adolescent who finds the restrictions of her mother and the community of Claremont too constricting. However, her mother’s brother, her Uncle Jim, who runs the St. Francis Hotel where her mother handles the dining room is her usual savior and makes life more tolerable for her. Her mother often locks her in to keep her from associating with the local boys. Uncle Jim recognizes her unfettered spirit remarking “You cain’t keep her in a place that’s got a lid on it. She’s got sump’n inside of her like wings and she’ll beat off the cover, and she’ll go away.”

She finally breaks away and moves to a local town where she has a child by a man who won’t marry her. Returning to her mother, she finds though she is two years older her mother is still calling the shots. Romanced by Boy Huntington who is already married, she runs off to marry him when his divorce comes through though she is not in love with him. Finally, returning to Claremont when Boy leaves her for another woman, she declares her independence and refuses to move in with her mother who has now become a religious zealot, even rejecting her uncle when he offers her a room in his hotel. The ending can be interpreted two ways: now earning her own money as a waitress in a local restaurant that caters to a rough crowd, it is hopeful that she is finally on her own, or sad if she has just traded one prison for another.

Under the direction of Myrick-Hodges, most of the acting is one-note and no one seems to change. However, Richard Lear’s Uncle Jim is a colorfully eccentric character who has made peace with his constrained life but finds pleasure in hobbies he follows. While Lee’s Willie is always champing at the bit, we do not see what qualities she has to succeed on her own in life. As her mother the stern Mrs. Baker, Julia Brothers is both unsympathetic and cold-blooded, though ironically everything she fears for Willie comes to pass. Lukey Klein seems unconvincing casting for Boy Huntington as we never see why so many women have thrown themselves at him. (Boy has at least two wives in the course of the play, if not more.) The other characters are mostly walk-ons, several of whom double in roles that only appear in one scene, but seem more interesting than the main protagonists.

While the set by Lee makes it possible for the quick changes as the three years pass, it lacks the atmosphere of prairie Oklahoma. Emilee McVey-Lee’s bland costumes may be historically accurate but add little to the stage picture. More interesting is Isabella Gill-Gomez’s lighting which varies in color depending on the scene. Kudos to the Mint Theater Company for attempting to revive Lynn Riggs’ reputation. However, other than create a believable community, this production fails to find the drama inherent in his rarely performed Sump’n Like Wings though the plot implies that more is there than meets the eye.

Sump’n Like Wings (through November 2, 2024)

Mint Theater Company

Theatre Row, 410 W. 42^nd Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-714-2442 ext. 45 or visit http://www.minttheater.org

Running time: two hours and five minutes with one intermission