Marquette Theatre’s Portrait of a Family in Brooklyn, 1950

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Photo Courtesy of Marquette University

Marquette University Theatre casts a nuanced glance into a turning point in race relations with Lynn Nottage’s Crumbs From the Table of Joy. Director Marti Gobel balances Nottage’s sophisticated emotional dynamics with a sharp cast.

A wide-eyed, emotionally radiant Cambryelle Getter plays Ernestine Crump—a mid-20th century African American high school girl who recently moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., with her family. Having come from a small town, Ernestine and her sister, Ermina (Martilla Marechal), are outcasts in the big city. It doesn’t help that their father has come to Brooklyn looking to be closer to a religious leader who doesn’t even live there. Mario Walker has a gruff vulnerability about him as a somewhat directionless Godfrey Crump who has recently lost his wife.

Direction comes to Godfrey’s life in the form of a German immigrant woman who quickly makes a connection with him. Ernestine and Ermina are introduced to that woman as their father’s wife, who promptly moves-in. Suffice it to say this is a sudden change for the two girls. Giorgia Cozzo summons a firm sense of emotional gravity about her as a housewife trying her best to hold together a household, even as she inadvertently threatens its stability. A particular challenge for her comes in the form of Lily Ann Green, the sister of Godfrey’s late wife. Malaina Moore is impressively balanced as Lily, a woman who has struggled to carve her way into an educated, independent life and become something of an alcoholic in the process.

Through Nov. 17 at Helfaer Theatre, 1304 W. Clybourn St.