By June S. April

HARTFORD — The current production of Amiri Baraka’s provocative and timely Dutchman at Hartford Stage is a theatre experience that leaves a lasting and profound impression.

One of the stated goals of Hartford Stage artistic director Michael Wilson has always been the intent to bring theatre into the community and to have it be relevant theatre. Once again he has succeeded mightily.

Dutchman is a singularly hard-hitting story that deals, both intellectually and viscerally, with issues of power between people, especially those of different races. As part of the theatre process, it was determined to have a post-play discussion after each performance Dutchman to continue the dialogue of the production. Members of the National Conference for Community and Justice and the MetroHartford Community Conversations on Race Project host the exchanges, navigating the statements of personal experiences and impressions towards a course of deeper understanding.

Written in 1964, a decade when the voices of the Black Artist and Civil Rights were marching in unison, Dutchman  gave insights into the soul of the torment of Black people. The story takes place in the bowels of the New York City subway.

The set, designed by Scott Bradley, is outstanding. A rotating circular center section is painted with red, green and yellow swirls that impart a disturbing undertow of a powerful maelstrom… somewhat suggestive of Dante’s Inferno. Preceding the start of the play, the haunting tones of saxophonist Mixashawn immediately capture the audience’s attention and sets the mood for what’s to come. His rendition of Duke Ellington’s Take the A Train couldn’t be more appropriate. The artful lighting effects by Rui Rita additionally heighten the audience’s transportment into the dynamic mood shifts of the play.

The powerfully prophetic and poetic words of Baraka are spoken as a prologue to the play by the actor Ernest Perry, Jr. He appears as the conductor, both pre-play and once again at the close of the play. The resonant tones of his baritone voice and mesmerizing skill of the tutored tongue that spins Shakespeare as gloriously as the text draws the audience one step deeper into what is to be witnessed.

The main characters are Clay, an educated and seemingly middle class African-American man, and a seductive white woman, Lulu, who has clearly targeted him to do a verbal dance of power and destruction.

Actors Chris McKinney and Vivienne Benesch are brilliant in their respective portrayals of the two leads. Director Jonathan Wilson, who is chairman of Loyola University Chicago’s theatre department, brought a creative and sensitive depth of understanding to the Hartford production. Telling subtle actions, such as when Lulu repeatedly and carelessly throws away the partially eaten apples without any regard, brings audible responses from the audience.

There are interesting Biblical ties in the names of the leads, such as Clay, which is of the earth and can be easily molded, and Lulu, as the temptress Eve offering the forbidden fruit. Dutchman is crafted from a mind that is vastly knowledgeable and that savors the love of word-molding.

One of our group was a young man, just pre-teen. Granted, Jason is far from average intellectually and is of an open mind, but the impact of this play was powerful and provocative, both from what he viewed as well as what he heard from other members of the audience in the post-play discussion.

Therefore, this reviewer feels comfortable in encouraging parents to bring their older children to experience this probing play and not to shy away from issues that involve one another in daily life. It is also relevant in that it calls for discussion and exploration even after the play, away from the theatre.

Playing through February 13, 2000, Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman is as important and memorable an experience as it was over three decades ago.

(Single tickets range from $17.50 to $43. Contact Hartford Stage at 860/527-5151 for details on curtain times and reservations.)