Zora Is My Name!

Based on two of Zora Neale Hurston's books, this feature-length adaptation of star Ruby Dee's stage play Zora Is My Name!--a 1990 addition to PBS's American Playhouse series--serves up a compelling, entertaining look at Hurston's life and times. Following the noted 20th century African-American folklorist and author from birth (a second daughter, much to her father's dismay) through girlhood and later adulthood (moving from her native Florida to New York's Harlem Renaissance scene and beyond), this dramatic production touches on conflicts (lost love, confrontations, a controlling benefactor) and successes. Interwoven throughout are segments acting out several of the folklore fables that Hurston was famed for collecting, featuring musical bits, as well as sketches on man-woman politics (Flip Wilson plays God!), death, and the origins of the Christian church. Using sparse (but significant) sets and props, the stellar cast--including Dee (as Hurston), Louis Gossett, Jr. and Lynn Whitfield--shine in this excellent portrait of an artist driven to preserve and proclaim her heritage. The program also includes the brief interview segment "Remembrances of Zora." Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Williams)