‘Sweet Tea’ infused with colorful personalities

When a Georgia native named Freddie settles down on a chair near the wrought ironwork of a Southern veranda, carefully adjusting the rings on his fingers as he recalls his turbulent childhood, he likely doesn’t realize the metaphorical aptness of his location. Freddie, one of the characters in “Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South,” E. Patrick Johnson’s earnest, studiously poignant, humor-leavened solo show, suffered vicious bullying as a youngster — at least he did until (as he relates with a hint of glee) he solved the problem by using a razor blade on one of his tormentors. Like the iron that has gone into the veranda’s filigreed railings, in other words, Freddie has endured great stresses and emerged from them, resilient and imposing.

So it is with many of the colorful personalities in “Sweet Tea,” which is running in Signature Theatre’s ARK space through Oct. 9. Based on Johnson’s 2008 book of oral histories and directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, the 90-minute piece introduces us to more than a dozen thoughtful, idiosyncratic Southerners who have coped with schoolyard harassment, family censure, merciless social pressure, the loss of friends to AIDS and other ordeals, but who have also, in many cases, formed happy relationships and found inner peace.

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(Scott Suchman/Scott Suchman) - E. Patrick Johnson in Signature Theatre's production of ‘Sweet Tea.’

(Scott Suchman) - E. Patrick Johnson in Signature Theatre's production of ‘Sweet Tea.’

Threading through the other accounts is Johnson’s story: A native of Hickory, N.C., who is an award-winning author and a professor of performance studies and African American studies at Northwestern University, he has felt some of the intensities of the gay experience, from joy when his relatively conservative mother agreed to attend his commitment ceremony, to shame at having skipped the funeral of a friend felled by AIDS.

Though he has a poised delivery and can plunge himself into moments of lively theatricality — during the show he sings gospel, executes an infectious ring shout and, in a particularly enjoyable scene, channels the tambourine-waving exuberance of an eccentric pastor — Johnson isn’t one of the world’s most memorable performers. Some of his characterizations aren’t as distinctively etched as they might be, vocally or physically. But “Sweet Tea” can be funny, and many of its monologues brim with emotion and a powerful sense of witness — as was evident at the reviewed performance, when audience members frequently murmured in enthusiastic agreement.

The show’s most engaging and meticulously limned characters include Chaz/Chastity, an elegant transgender person who likes to wear chunky earrings and impersonate Patti LaBelle; Stephen, a young father once so conflicted about his sexuality that he entertained thoughts of suicide; and Countess Vivian, a gracious New Orleans nona­genar­­ian who slowly and carefully prepares sweet tea while recalling, in a slightly bemused tone, what it was like to grow up a “sissy” in the Seventh Ward.

Vivian’s rainbow-colored scarf is one of simple costume pieces that help distinguish some of the show’s characters. (Kathleen Geldard devised the costumes.) Designer Klyph Stanford takes a much more detailed approach to the set, which — with its rocking chair, wisteria, potted plants, tire swing and Mardi Gras bead-bedecked ironwork — looks a little like an Old South theme park.

Of course, the show trains its eye far beyond any specific veranda. In one of the play’s particularly moving lines, Gerome, the tambourine-shaking pastor, explains that he has turned his back on narrow perspectives and learned to see creation “as a whole picture.” “Sweet Tea” invites us to gaze at that picture, too.

Wren is a freelance writer.

Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South

by E. Patrick Johnson. Directed by Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj; lighting design, Curtis V. Hodge; sound, Matt Rowe. 90 minutes. Through Oct. 9 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Visit www.signature-theatre.org or call 703-573-7328.