Past and present collide in a new indie Southern drama THE CRICKETS DANCE, directed by Veronica Robledo and adapted by her from the novel of the same name by Deborah Robillard.
Angie Lawrence (Kirsten Renton) is a Savannah, Georgia-based lawyer who shares an office with a black lawyer called Andrew McGrath (Maurice Johnson) . Angie has been finding it difficult to overcome past traumas from personal sadness and the recent death of an old friend Miss Claudia Wainwright (Sandra Ellis Lafferty) in the community adds to the sadness.
However, this latter bereavement has resulted in her getting the house Miss Claudia lived in additionally she also takes possession of some old books, amongst them a diary that reflects on times past in the very house she now lives in.
Passages of reminiscence take her back to 1847 when the house was owned by a slave-trader landowner called Jackson (William Mark McCullough) and his wife Emmaline (KateLynn E. Newberry) , who arrives on the plot with black servant Ophelia (Jamie Butler), who, in turn whilst working in the cotton fields meets Reuben and the two fall in love, with Ophelia becoming pregnant. Jackson is keen for Emmeline to bequeath him a son, but her first attempt reveals a daughter, which he takes exception to and forces the responsibility of care onto Ophelia.
Angie’s own desire to read the diary forces her to question her own belief system on all fronts, but the inner secrets also make her look to her office colleague for answers as well….
Involving, intelligent and competent Deep South drama with familiar themes of legacy and slavery within the narrative and a desire for all concerned to have closure from their past. Echoing the likes of ALEX HALEY’S ROOTS, 12 YEARS A SLAVE and THE HELP amongst others, it retains a traditional reflection of the challenges of race and slavery from the Old South, but deals constructively with the after-effects in the modern-day narrative where Angie looks into the histories of the locality she inhabits.
Although there are very uncomfortable moments here designed for that very purpose, they are counter-balanced with Angie and Andrew’s own intelligent emotional desires to effect closure on what has gone before. Inevitable comparisons will be drawn with similar works, but the overall feeling is one of true hope in an age of ‘Black Lives Matter’ and Trump’s America – and a clear message that there is a broader dialogue waiting for us all. Good sensitive performances all around from the leads down, coupled with some excellent cinematography from Roger Artola.
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