‘Gem of the Ocean’ at the Arden: An American monument you don’t want to miss

For 24 years, August Wilson was engaged in a remarkable project he completed shortly before his death in 2005. He wrote 10 plays, each representing a decade in the African American experience in the 20th century. This “Century Cycle” is a monumental contribution to American drama.

Gem of the Ocean takes place in 1904 — the first of the cycle although written next to last, in 2003, at the height of his powers. The Arden’s production, under James Ijames’ strong direction, is wildly theatrical and deeply emotional and not to be missed.

Years ago, while waiting for another production of Gem of the Ocean to begin, I heard the following exchange between a couple sitting behind me. A woman, reading from the program that Aunt Ester — the central character in this play and one who reappears in several of Wilson’s other plays — was 287 years old, said, “How that be?” Her companion replied, “It’s theater.” And that is the true story of August Wilson’s stagecraft, allowing the hard realities of life to exist alongside mysticism.

The play begins when Citizen Barlow (the superb Akeem Davis, who becomes the muscular center of the show) bursts into Aunt Ester’s house, desperate to have his “soul washed,” tormented by some terrible deed he must confess to. Aunt Ester (the impressive Zuhairah) takes him in, and he becomes part of the household, joining Eli (Steven Wright) and Black Mary (Danielle Leneé, lovely). There are various visitors: cruel, power-drunk Caesar (Bowman Wright); Solly (Brian Anthony Wilson, in a strong, sympathetic performance), who is still a freedom fighter; and Rutherford Selig (Brian McCann, who creates a rich and warm character), a white peddler.

The climactic scene in Gem — both theatrically and thematically — is Aunt Ester’s conjuring up of the City of Bones. Citizen will revisit the horrors of the Middle Passage, the journey from freedom to slavery, as he passes through states of wonder, terror, guilt, and confession. Saving him is a communal effort (his name isn’t Citizen for nothing), and their rejoicing is interrupted by Caesar, a vicious convert to the law; we do well to remember the injunction “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”

The drama — in every sense of the word — is enhanced by the set (designed by Thom Weaver, whose lighting is wonderfully evocative). There’s a pump for water, a stove for cooking, and a sofa for sitting, while the stage is surrounded by shining black statues, figures standing in dark water. Late in the play, while in his visionary state, Citizen is terror-stricken: “They all look like me. They all got my face!” He has discovered the central truth August Wilson and Aunt Ester were guiding him toward.

The play’s debate — between the values of self-interest and community, between commerce and kindness, between refusal and sanctuary — is eerily relevant. Gem of the Ocean is a history play: The title is the name of the slave ship that brought Aunt Ester to America, just as her address, 1839 Wylie Avenue, contains the date of the slave rebellion on another ship, the Amistad, and points, as well, to the time the Underground Railroad began. But, like all great history plays, Gem of the Ocean is about the present as well as the past.

Through March 31 at the Arden Theatre Company, 40 N. Second Street. Tickets: $18-$52. Information: 215-922-1122, ardentheatre.org.