Robert Johnson
Jr.’s sobering play, STOP AND FRISK, about racial profiling in an unfair legal
system, is every bit as relevant today as it was when it was written twenty
years ago. If only it didn’t resonate so loudly. In fact, “stand your ground”
laws have proliferated while many lament that our constitutional rights have
been thrown out the window.
When Johnson
first wrote STOP AND FRISK, a yuppie white man had just shot his pregnant
wife as they drove home from their childbirth class. He claimed an African
American man had shot them in a carjacking gone wrong. Everyone believed him.
It was 24/7 on the network news. Police undertook a massive manhunt, even
arresting and charging an innocent man. No one suspected the husband even
though statistics indicate that, with murder, it’s more likely to be a family
member.
Even though
Johnson mentions the incident, STOP AND FRISK isn’t just an indictment of the
law, it’s a poignant story of a fiercely loyal family. Johnny Peterson’s mother
will do everything in her power to prove her son’s innocence when he’s falsely
arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. He merely sat on a stoop to talk with
two friends he hadn’t seen in a while. The police decide to hassle the teens and
when they protest, the patrolmen rough them up and to their delight, find
cocaine on the young man already known to them. The three get charged with
possession.
Johnson creates
warm, vibrant characters to populate his play and director Jacqui Parker found
an extraordinary cast (some from her OUR PLACE theater program) to make us care
deeply about them. I saw the play the first time round, with Parker herself and
the late Tom Grimes, and it struck a mighty chord. I’m happy to say the chord
is ringing again with the new cast.
Kinson Theodoris
gives a powerful, charismatic performance as the young poet/ protagonist
wrongly accused. Karimah Williams as his mother breaks your heart as she paces
her kitchen waiting in vain for Johnny to come home. Valerie Lee returns to the
stage (Hooray!) after a seven year hiatus and knocks us out with her
firecracker performance as mother’s wisecracking homeless best friend. Eboni
Baptiste makes Johnny’s attorney a no nonsense career woman with a affectionate
soft spot for the aspiring writer.
Every actor in
the show makes his/her role stand out, right down to the court officer (Evelyn
Wynn, with only 2 or 3 lines) who shakes her finger at the witness and gets a
well earned laugh. Parker and company demonstrate with plenty of style that Boston needs THE AFRICAN
AMERICAN FESTIVAL. Welcome back.
