“Crumbs from the Table of Joy” by Lynn Nottage, was described by the New York post  as “[i]magine a pairing…between Tennessee Williams and Lorraine Hansberry, a memory play about a  black family, a glass menagerie in the sun…” It’s 1950, and Ernestine Crump is seventeen years old. Her widowed father has recently moved his two daughters from Florida to Brooklyn, believing he will find controversial spiritualist Father Divine’s Peace Mission, based on a return address on an envelope. However, Father Divine has moved to Philadelphia, and the whole world, including the Crump family, is on the brink of major transition.With Ernestine acting as narrator, and occasionally letting her imagination get the best of her, “Crumbs from the Table of Joy” is a humorous and touching story of family in the process of change- the father has become a single parent, the girls are becoming young women, a flamboyant aunt and a German émigré wife become part of the household, and Brooklyn is a far cry from rural Florida.

       .  Throughout 2010, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the Virginia Tourism Commission are joining in an initiative titled Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts.  “Crumbs from the Table of Joy” is one of two programs offered by the Playhouse as part of the year long recognition. While plays by Lynn Nottage are popular with theatres all over the country, they will likely find even greater audiences since Ms. Nottage won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2009 for her play, “Ruined.” “Crumbs from the Table of Joy” was chosen by the Playhouse for inclusion on the Minds Wide Open calendar not only for its playwright, but equally for its female characters and the chance to highlight two young actresses, Patrice Glover and Alicia Snead.

          Co-produced by Cooper and Humbles Funeral Company, Inc.,   “Crumbs from the Table of Joy” opens at the Playhouse on Friday, February 26 and runs for three weekends, through Saturday, March 13.

updated 2.10.10  at 10:35 a.m.