{"id":2466722,"date":"2026-06-19T10:11:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2466722"},"modified":"2026-06-19T10:11:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:11:48","slug":"angry-raucous-review-good-performances-weighed-down-by-plot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/angry-raucous-review-good-performances-weighed-down-by-plot\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Angry, Raucous \u2026’ review: Good performances weighed down by plot"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s something delightful about plays about grand divas in crisis. <\/p>\n

The prima donna in extremis in Pearl Cleage\u2019s \u201cAngry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous,\u201d which is having its Los Angeles premiere at the Geffen Playhouse, has an air of Bette Davis extravagance to her. When Anna Campbell (Charlayne Woodard) struts around her elegant hotel suite in Atlanta, she can\u2019t resist delivering one of Davis\u2019 signature lines: \u201cWhat a dump!\u201d <\/p>\n

She\u2019s not at all dissatisfied with the accommodations. She\u2019s just frustrated that the weather isn\u2019t cooperating with her upcoming outdoor performance and agitated that this might be a bad omen for her big American comeback.<\/p>\n

More than 30 years ago, Anna and her manager and trusted companion, Betsy Samson (a formidable Denise Burse), fled to Europe on the heels of a highbrow scandal. Anna made waves when she performed \u201cNaked Wilson,\u201d a protest piece that had her delivering male monologues from August Wilson\u2019s plays while standing stark naked before a divided audience.<\/p>\n

The idea was to call attention to the way women have been de-centered in the male canon, but some felt it was sacrilege to subject Wilson\u2019s work to a feminist stunt. Acting opportunities dried up, and Anna high-tailed it to Amsterdam, where her histrionic grandeur was put to good use in European classics.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/picture>\n
\n

Charlayne Woodard in \u201cAngry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous\u201d at Geffen Playhouse.<\/p>\n

(Jeff Lorch)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Woodard brings Anna to life with a smokey voice, a statuesque presence and an arch demeanor. When her arms are in flamboyant motion, she leaves the impression of a seductive windmill that might slice you to bits if you come too close.<\/p>\n

The sumptuous production, directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson with solidarity for Cleage\u2019s characters, provides a marvelous showcase for Woodward to slink around on Beowulf Boritt\u2019s glamorous five-star set in costume designer Emilio Sosa\u2019s inspired Pucci-esque outfits. Her Anna doesn\u2019t do much but give attitude. Ah, but what delicious attitude she gives!<\/p>\n

Cleage\u2019s play, it must be said, is hamstrung with exposition. More time is devoted to setting up the dramatic situation than to activating it. Author of \u201cBlues for an Alabama Sky,\u201d<\/a> a 1995 abortion drama still ahead of its time, Cleage is telling a backstage story that\u2019s clearly close to home. She\u2019s also spinning an intergenerational tale of Black women groping past their initial distrust to a deeper understanding of what they have in common.<\/p>\n

The intentions are noble and the themes are handled with admirable complexity, but the writing is sluggish. The plot is like an old car whose engine just refuses to start on a cold winter morning.<\/p>\n

Anna has returned to Atlanta to headline a festival that is rebooting her \u201cNaked Wilson\u201d piece. She\u2019s worried about disrobing at her age, but it turns out that she\u2019s only being honored for her work. A much younger and far less experienced performer has been cast in the part that made her a cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre. <\/p>\n

\n
\"Denise <\/picture>\n
\n

Denise Burse, from left, Deborah Joy Winans, Charlayne Woodard and Olivia Washington in \u201cAngry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous\u201d at Geffen Playhouse. <\/p>\n

(Jeff Lorch)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Precious Watson (Olivia Washington), who goes by Pete, has not only never performed in a Wilson play but she\u2019s never even seen one on stage. She\u2019s a stripper whose only real dramatic experience has come from the adult entertainment industry. (Don\u2019t call her a porn star, not because she\u2019s ashamed of the films she made but because she\u2019s too modest about her screen credits.)<\/p>\n

Anna, her hauteur hardening like a protective shell, is aghast. She\u2019s also fearful about her future. She\u2019s run out of money, and this festival was to have launched her return to the U.S.<\/p>\n

Betty, whose fate is tied to Anna\u2019s, has been dangling the prospect of a national tour. But when Kate Hughes (an appealingly grounded Deborah Joy Winans), the producer of the festival, hears of this idea, she thinks it\u2019s completely unrealistic. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love Anna,\u201d she tells Betty. \u201c I\u2019m honoring Anna, but there just isn\u2019t an audience for the kind of presentation you\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time marches on, and one era\u2019s sensational renegade becomes a footnote in the next. But Anna can\u2019t believe that all she holds sacred \u2014 study, discipline, seriousness, commitment \u2014 is of little value in the social media world.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Deborah <\/picture>\n
\n

Deborah Joy Winans, left, and Denise Burse in \u201cAngry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous\u201d at Geffen Playhouse.<\/p>\n

(Jeff Lorch)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n

Pete (whom Washington plays with impressive self-possession) doesn\u2019t seem at all bothered about what she doesn\u2019t know. Anna keeps prefacing her remarks with the words \u201cno offense,\u201d but Pete can\u2019t help being offended by her pointed disdain. Their standoff energizes the play, but this jolt of momentum comes a little too late. <\/p>\n

\u201cAngry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous\u201d is not just the title. It\u2019s also a plot summary. The gorgeous part is the richness of Cleage\u2019s characters, radiantly realized by all four actors under Jackson\u2019s warm direction.<\/p>\n

Cleage gives the women plenty of substance, though her novelistic mode \u2014 more telling than showing \u2014 deprives her drama of style. The elegant staging tries to compensate, but the performers have to rely a little too heavily on their own charms to make up the difference in a play that swerves unexpectedly at the end into a cutesy fairy tale. <\/p>\n

\n
\n

‘Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous’<\/p>\n

Where:<\/b> Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., L.A.<\/p>\n

When:<\/b> 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. (Check for exceptions.) Ends July 12<\/p>\n

Tickets:<\/b> $45 – $139 (subject to change)<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/b> (310) 208-2028 or geffenplayhouse.org<\/a> <\/p>\n

Running time:<\/b> 1 hour and 40 minutes, no intermission<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s something delightful about plays about grand divas in crisis. The prima donna in extremis in Pearl Cleage\u2019s \u201cAngry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous,\u201d which is having its Los Angeles premiere at the Geffen Playhouse, has an air of Bette Davis extravagance to her. When Anna Campbell (Charlayne Woodard) struts around her elegant hotel suite in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2466723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2466722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Angry-Raucous-\u2026-review-Good-performances-weighed-down-by-plot.com2Fa62Ff42F7a66517c4c87a939b3b99e87.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2466722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2466722"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2466722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2466724,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2466722\/revisions\/2466724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2466723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2466722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2466722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2466722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}