This material was adapted from the Goodman Theatre Study Guide for Gem of the Ocean. It is for classroom use only, and is copywritten. It may not be reproduced without express consent from The Goodman Theatre Citizen Barlow, a young African-American, arrives in Pittsburgh in 1904, part of the wave of freed slaves and their children migrating from South to North following the Civil War. While working at the local mill, Citizen steals a can of nails. Another man is accused and chooses suicide rather than face arrest and a life in which he would be unjustly identified as a thief. Citizen hopes to unburden himself of the guilt he feels for the accused man’s death and seeks out Aunt Ester, whose healing powers are legendary. At 285 years of age, Aunt Ester lives in a house with Eli, her friend and protector, and Black Mary, a young woman who takes in laundry to earn a living and to whom Aunt Ester hopes to pass on her powers. Eli is intent on building a strong wall around the house so that they will be protected, physically and metaphorically, from the tyranny of Black Mary’s brother, Caesar, the local law enforcement official. To the people of the Hill District, Caesar represents a black man gone white, someone ready to oppress and exploit his people for personal gain. Although the steel mills in Pittsburgh are booming, pay is low, and rent is high. Solly, Aunt Ester’s good friend and sometime suitor, sees clearly the enormous economic and social barriers that face the newly arrived African-American workers. We learn from Solly that when the unjustly accused man chose death rather than arrest for stealing the nails, he became a martyr in the eyes of the workers; they have not gone to work for three days and are now rioting. Caesar has arrested more than 200 people and even shot a man. Meanwhile, Citizen confesses to Aunt Ester that it was he who stole the bucket of nails and that he had been unable to confess to save the accused man’s life. He asks if she can wash his soul and start him on the road to redemption. Aunt Ester consents and instructs Citizen to collect some items he will need for his journey to the City of Bones, a city built underwater in the Atlantic Ocean with bones of the slaves who lost their lives on the treacherous voyage to America. Shortly afterward, Eli reports that someone has set fire to the mill. Later, Solly, Eli and Black Mary help Aunt Ester guide Citizen to the City of Bones. Citizen is plunged into the hold of the historic ship, Gem of the Ocean, and experiences the slaves’ dreadful journey across the Atlantic. Citizen learns that after losing most of the water overboard mid-journey, the Captain took the remaining water and left the slaves and crew to die. Many survived by horrific but necessary means, and 45 days later arrived in Charleston harbor. Finally, Citizen nears the City gate, where he recognizes the gatekeeper: it is the man who was accused of stealing the nails. Citizen acknowledges his guilt to the man, and is welcomed into the City of Bones. Citizen returns from his journey, and Aunt Ester, Black Mary, Eli and Solly greet him with a song of celebration. When Caesar interrupts and accuses Solly of starting the mill fire, Solly smacks Caesar with his walking stick and flees. Aunt Ester sends Citizen to find the peddler Rutherford Selig, to help smuggle Solly away. Citizen offers to go with them, and Selig, Citizen and Solly slip away as Caesar arrives to arrest Aunt Ester for aiding and abetting a fugitive. However, the judge releases her, and she returns home. Citizen returns with news that Caesar has shot Solly. Citizen and Selig bring Solly in, and Aunt Ester and Black Mary sing a hymn over Solly, as Eli delivers a eulogy. Just then, Caesar comes back, this time to arrest Citizen for his participation in Solly’s failed escape. Before he can discover anything, however, Black Mary renounces him for his lack of compassion for others. Without speaking, Caesar leaves. Citizen takes Solly’s walking stick and coat and leaves to continue Solly’s work, bringing his people to freedom. |
