GIVIN’ IT UP happens in a whirlwind of time. Shakespeare’s memorable characters appear as a baby lost on the streets of Harlem, an old preacher and his son, a rap-singing panhandler, Black Panthers, a WW II military repair shop foreman, black seamstress, and Southern police with torches. The exiting bear? The mysterious statue? All part of the many surprising twists and turns of the show.

The Panhandler gets the final word: