Nightlands

by Sylvan Oswald, Directed by Tamilla Woodard.

A uniquely imagined memory of North Philadelphia, five actors fluidly trade races and genders to play a community of characters. The protagonists are loosely based on Sylvan’s Jewish grandmother and the African-American woman who taught her astrology in the mid-1970s. In Sylvan’s hands, the action is placed against the 1964 Philadelphia race riots, adding gravity to the already-tense circumstances of the two women’s emerging friendship. Unsatisfied at home and in her job selling wigs, Netta Klein seeks out Ivy Silver for an astrological reading. Soon Netta wants more, and asks Ivy to teach her astrology. Unable to deny their mutual attraction, Ivy agrees. Unfazed by the taboos of the era, their secret relationship grows. Ivy begins to employ Netta on her public-access astrology radio show, and the two women envision stealing away together. When race violence ignites the city, the women confront the fragility of their dream.