Wilson Bell directs this show that contains theatrical elements that showcases its entertainment value...

The production itself is very moving from its honest dialogue and very tight from its staging.

Rich Borowy, Accessibly Live Off-Line

Do Lord Remember Me delivers an emotional package...

The stories...are skillfully performed by the five member cast...

Gail Roberts, Tolucan Times and Canyon Crier

Chromolume Theatre Company’s revival of James de Jongh’s 1982 workshop project, which details the lives of ex-slaves and the horrors of their experiences, uses the most important elements of documentaries to create a dramatic production that is moving, funny, tragic, and, above all, provacative.

The cast, three men and two women, is terrific.

Arthur Alonzo Richardson delivers superb renditions of a slave on the auction block and Nat Turner who was hung for leading a slave rebellion.

Jim Crogan, Backstage West

RECOMMENDED

Next time you hear some guy bitching about how there's no good theater in L.A., hogtie him, toss him into your car and drive straight to the Raven Playhouse for Wilson Bell's staging of Do Lord Remember Me; that ought to shut him up.

I was wishing that Arthur Alonzo Richardson, as Slave, would never leave the stage. His ability to inhabit each of his characters is incomparable, and his soulful performance is tempered by touches of playfulness, even in the darkest scenes.

With such heavy subject matter, it's amazing that this production is so much fun. Despite the immeasurable pain these ex-slaves endured, the final, prevailing sentiment is not bitter, but grateful, that 'God done spared a few o' us to tell da tale.'

Stephanie Lysaght, LA Weekly

Designer James Esposito’s stark sound design and nearly-bare stage are complemented by Laura Russell’s elegant costumes and Christopher Singleton’s gentle lighting to create a production supported by, but not depending upon, technology.

The star here...is musical director Paul Wong’s gorgeous work with the five fine performers on a capella versions of such traditional songs as ‘Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child,’ ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen’ and the play’s title song.

Director Wilson Bell repeats the fine staging from the production’s earlier life at the Raven Playhouse that easily navigates the actors and the audience through scores of characters...’

Tom Provenzano, LA Weekly

CRITIC’S PICK

James de Jongh’s docudrama, drawn from recorded interviews of ex-slaves in the 1930s, transcends reader’s theater contours through the power of its content.

[S]pirituals [are] beautifully overseen by Paul Wong as [a] unifying motif.

Credit also goes to the wonderfully controlled Chromolume Theatre Company production, which played last fall at the Raven Playhouse.

The cast is superb. Bambadjan Bamba, Rodney J. Hobbs, Shavonda Mitchell and Annzella Victoria trump every challenge handed them, and Arthur Richardson goes for the jugular, especially as Nat Turner.

They elucidate and entertain at once, and that, coupled with the undeniable authenticity makes ‘Do Lord Remember Me’ quietly unforgettable.

David C. Nichols, LA Times