Jacqui Parker’s new play, A CRACK IN THE BLUE WALL (@
Hibernian Hall through Nov. 22nd) follows one family in their quest
for justice when a white policeman shoots and kills their son. Sound familiar? Parker’s
clever twist on a story “ripped from the headlines” is that the father of the
slain man is himself a policeman. What’s more, his partner is related by
marriage to the shooter.
Will his white partner help this African-American family
uncover the truth? Will the slain boy’s mother emerge from her grief and
embrace the living again? Will her other son take up his brother’s mission to
speak out against violence? Will all the young people in the play stay virgins?
That last one seems a bit out of place but Parker, the master weaver, gets some
much appreciated levity out of matching up and cooling down the teenagers.
The threads Parker works into her tapestry are so plentiful
that any one of them could have its own play: Parker offers an embarrassment of
riches with themes like the empowerment of women, the persistence of existence
even after death, forced busing, prescription drug abuse, family loyalty, the
excruciatingly slow judicial system, burgeoning sexuality, dating out of one’s
race, the thin blue line, and the “Black Lives Matter” movement (although
Parker doesn’t specifically name it).
The play opens with a news report on the shooting and ends
with another news report announcing the District Attorney’s plans for the case.
Since the play is chronological and happens between the two news stories, I
felt as if we were watching an episodic drama, the way Charles Dickens wrote
his novels (with each chapter running in another day’s newspaper)… or the way
television has tapped into well written serial dramas. If HBO is listening,
Parker’s your playwright.
Parker has a crackerjack cast to people her story: Abria
Smith and Wyatt Jackson portray the grieving parents who each find a different
path for coping. Jackson’s
character is a tower of strength where Smith’s turns inward. Their elegant
performances are contrasted with the energy and urgency of the teenaged
characters.
Derek Jackson as the surviving son can’t sit still and wait.
It’s a powerful portrayal of youthful passion and exuberance...and he’s quite
adept at comedy, too, being pursued by two attractive females, one (Johanna
Perez) who is dogged in her pursuit and one (Amelia Janine Lumpkin) who insists
she isn’t at all interested! John Porell has the plum role of a man torn in his
allegiances, to a friend and partner or to his wife’s family. Seyquan Mack and
Smith have some lovely moments together, with Mack serenading his mother to
sleep.