Compelling theater obviously begins with thought-provoking scripts. When these are paired with directors who have a vision for the most visceral way to expose each play’s emotional core, audiences are in for a treat. Sometimes the material builds gradually in real time in an essentially realistic tone around issues torn from the headlines like “American Son.” Other times, we’re asked to cross over to the avant-garde in a retrospective whirl that asks us to make leaps of imagination to connect the dots as in “The Velocity of Gary.”
However, both shows which opened last week on opposite sides of the Bay share some similar themes despite their divergent styles. What is the true definition of family and who gets to define it? What is it like to be perceived as the “other” as you strive to find your authentic self and make your way forward in our complicated world?
American Son by Christopher Demos-Brown
Stageworks Theatre
1120 E Kennedy Blvd., Suite 151, Tampa
813-374-2416; stageworkstheatre.org
Tickets: $35. Through March 28
Hip-hop sets the mood at Stageworks in Tampa; there’s a BLM rap juxtaposed with hand-clapping gospel inflected music. But when we first meet Kendra Ellis-Connor (an intense, nuanced Andresia Moseley) at the police station, you know from her empty eyes that something is amiss. She glances left in silence, then checks her phone. Thunder claps as she paces. She’s a picture of anxiety; her 18-year-old son, Jamal, has not come home and is not returning her texts. The white rookie cop Paul Larkin (Blake Halloran) is no help. He answers her questions by declaring “we have a protocol, OK?” and we “don’t need to run down a rabbit hole.” Halloran is a study in bureaucratic indifference, which only amps up the tension as his third degree is filled with racist stereotypes.
Frank Chavez’s mid-century set is brilliantly generic. The Coral Gables Police waiting room could be anywhere USA. The clean lines of gray walls with inlaid wood, hanging pendant lights, plus the hint of a dappled tile floor give the American flag pedestal special prominence by contrast. Lighting and sound designer, Karla Hartley, makes sure that the flag is a central image as the play begins. The two rectangular doorways flanked by sconces are portals into darkness, emphasizing Kendra’s sense of limbo as she waits for answers that are excruciatingly slow in coming.
“American Son” director Fanni Green lives the issues that many black women face every day and skillfully guides them to the forefront. Demos-Brown’s play adds the pressures of an interracial marriage to the core problem: how do you keep your Black son safe? What is it like to be one of the few Black kids in a posh private school? How do you forcefully assert your rights and still avoid being seen as “an angry Black woman?” How do you accept powerlessness as a Black mother finally releasing your children into a world of institutionalized racism? Misogyny and racism infuse our culture. It’s impossible to avoid ingrained suspicion regardless of education or financial position. The evening explores how the collision of cultures defines us as a nation.
As her frustration mounts, Kendra confronts Officer Larkin, whose hand instinctively lands on the gun on his hip. Psychology professor Kendra quips that I “know when I’m being managed.” To divulge more would be a disservice, but the play gallops along almost without allowing you to take a breath. When Kendra’s estranged husband, white FBI agent Scott (a picture perfect Ward Smith) arrives to check on their son’s status, complications arise. Finally, as the important officer on duty Lt. Stokes (Aaron Washington, all business) shows up at 4 a.m. with some answers, he spars with the couple, and scolds Kendra about judging his actions as a Black cop.
Even though I saw the Broadway production, and knew exactly where the play was headed, I was completely caught up in the action and brought to tears at the end—as the actors and the playwright nail the powerful denouement.
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