Longtime Florida Studio Theatre patrons may remember a 2009 production of the show Black Pearl Sings!, about a Black female prisoner in Depression-era Texas and the white female musicologist seeking to record her renditions of undocumented slave songs before they disappear into history. But even if they do, they’ll probably see the current production of the show with fresh eyes.

That’s both because playwright Frank Higgins has made some changes to the play over the years, to better balance the relationship between Black and white, and because we all see race relations a bit differently than we might have prior to the murder of George Floyd and other incidents of racism in this country.

I do recall that 2009 production, but one thing I didn’t remember was that, while it deals with serious and lasting issues, Black Pearl Sings! is also frequently funny. That helps the medicine go down, so to speak.

We first hear Pearl (Alice M. Gatling) singing offstage, as the driven musicologist Susannah Mullally (Rachel Moulton) does, from the warden’s office at the hellhole prison where Pearl is doing her time for a crime. Mullally’s interest is at first purely professional; she has her own reasons for wanting the Library of Congress to recognize both her achievements and Pearl’s songs. But as the two women warily get to know each other, with those songs the currency of their exchanges, Susannah is drawn into searching for Pearl’s missing daughter, and even into working towards Pearl’s freedom—under her supervision.

Under the direction of Kate Alexander, who also helmed the previous production, the gradual steps by which the characters come to know, understand and respect one another are believably played, and the manner in which the stakes are raised is compelling. Each woman has her advantages and disadvantages while striving to get what they want, as the scene shifts from Texas to Greenwich Village, where Pearl takes the concert stage with Susannah’s backing/prodding.

Clearly, the role of Pearl is dominant at times, and Gatling is powerful in both her most emotional moments and her a cappella delivery of about 20 spiritual and folk songs throughout. But Moulton holds her own as the determined Susannah, and she gets to raise her voice in song a bit, too. Higgins, perhaps wisely, doesn’t give us every detail about Susannah’s own past, just enough to help us to see her motivations.

The end result is a show that keeps us watching, and listening, intently throughout the entire running time of over two hours. Black Pearl Sings! continues through July 30 in FST’s Keating Theatre. For tickets, call (941) 366-9000 or go to floridastudiotheatre.org.