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Kes Khemnu as Simon/Rex/Jesse and Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. as Lewis in Arden Theatre Company's production of Blue Door. Photo by Mark Garvin

The events of the Arden Theater Company’s production of Blue Door span four generations and well over 100 years. But the story itself all takes place during one sleepless night in the mind of Lewis, an affluent black professor approaching retirement who finds himself abandoned by his wife on the eve of the Million Man March in 1995. As Lewis (played dominantly by Johnnie Hobbs Jr.) contemplates his life and the sacrifices he’s made to his own culture and heritage in the name of success, he’s visited by his father and his father’s fathers, all portrayed by Kew Khemnu.

The play is driven by monologues and pantomimes, traded between the two actors, portraying crucial moments in Lewis’ life and the lives of his immediate ancestors. Perched on an elevated bedroom set, insulated by towering book shelves, Hobbs as Lewis recalls snippets of his life experiences, from the first time he understood he and his white wife didn’t see the world the same way to his realization of the subtle racism within the academic world. Meanwhile, Khemnu, using only a wooden chair as a prop, acts out the memories of Lewis’ fathers — from his great-grandfather’s first moments of freedom to his father’s often-misguided attempts to give Lewis a life better than his own.

Johnnie Hobbs, Jr. as Lewis and Kes Khemnu as Simon/Rex/Jesse in Arden Theatre Company's production of Blue Door. Photo by Mark Garvin.

It’s a clever story-telling device to have Lewis, a preeminent scholar on the far-out mathematics of time and our perception of it, haunted and inspired by ghostly figures from his family’s tumultuous past — kind of like if Ebeneezer Scrooge had been a quantum physicist.

But it’s really the high-energy performances from both actors that keep the play energetic and engaging. Both actors vary their delivery and intensity well, and the transitions between scenes work thanks to skillful direction from Walter Dallas. The resulting production is surprisingly humorous and uplifting at times, especially for a show about one man’s efforts to ignore the history and culture of his own family. But learning to embrace all aspects of your heritage — both the good and the bad — and incorporate them into your own identify is at the heart of what Blue Door is all about.

Blue Door
Now through March 21st, 2010

Arden Theatre Company
40 N. 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
(215) 922-1122
www.ardentheatre.org