American Son
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Cititour.com Review
Fairly early in “American Son,” Christopher Demos-Brown’s highly topical new play at the Booth Theatre under Kenny Leon’s expert direction, Kendra Ellis-Connor (Kerry Washington), a frustrated, well-off African-American psychology professor stuck at 4am in a Miami police station, explodes while desperately trying to learn the fate of her missing son: “You keep saying that: “I understand. I share your concerns,” she rails at rookie cop Paul Larkin (an excellent Jeremy Jordan), a seemingly nice white officer who is trying calm her down.
But there’s little question that Demos-Brown is directing those words to most of us in the audience, fellow white people who can’t possibly fathom the inherent dangers in present-day America to anyone with black or brown skin, no matter their socioeconomic circumstances. It’s just one of many exchanges in this taut, ripped-from-the headlines drama (set in June of the following year) that underlines both the power of this 85-minute script, as well as its slightly unfortunate heavy-handedness.
As we all wait to learn the fate of Kendra’s 18-year-old son Jamal – which will eventually by revealed by the no-nonsense Lieutenant Stokes (a very effective Eugene Lee) -- we find out, bit by bit, some pertinent details. Most notably, Jamal, although soon to enter West Point, has been driving around in his shiny new Lexus – recently decorated with a provocative, anti-police bumper sticker – with two other black kids. And if you’re first thought is ‘so what?,” you’re missing the point: it’s not just the rich who are different than you and me.
Indeed, the play’s clear, potent messages about racism are constantly underlined, whether it’s when Larkin instantly mistakes Kendra’s white FBI agent husband, Scott (Steven Pasquale, exhibiting his now familiar mixture of machismo and sensitivity) for a fellow officer he hasn’t met; when Scott and Kendra, who are recently estranged, re-compare notes on their childhoods or argue about the proper way to speak; and especially when Kendra shares her recent dreams about Jamal, complete with “nooses and crosses and white men with Brylcreem crew-cuts.”
In fact, it’s Kendra’s “awakening” that the realities of her (and her son’s) place in 21st-century America isn’t so different than it was in the past two hundred years that has led, in large part, to both the rift in her long marriage and the uneasy feelings that now permeate every fiber of her being.
The play’s social relevance might well have been enough to get it produced (especially in the past few months when we’ve witnessed a slew of plays about racism on our boards, ranging from “Pass Over” to “The Niceties”), but there can be no question that Washington’s involvement led it to the Great White Way.
Having gained superstardom through ABC’s hit series “Scandal,” Washington has wisely returned to Broadway after nearly a decade in a role that’s 180 degrees from her TV alter ego Olivia Pope. Gone are the super-stylish outfits and perfect coifs; Washington is thoroughly deglamorized, More importantly, if Olivia seemingly had all the answers – or at least no shortage of solutions – Kendra is nothing but a bundle of questions, nerves and helplessness.
For better and, perhaps, a little worse, Kendra’s circumstance only gives Washington three primary emotions to play: righteous indignation, near-paralyzing fear, and, every once in a while, surprising tenderness. That Washington hits every mark expertly is no surprise, but one wishes Demos-Brown had allowed the actress to more fully demonstrate her range.
Still, to quote a greater American playwright, “attention must be paid” to what Kendra both says and feels if our country is to begin closing the wounds that have so violently reopened in recent years. Above all, whether we are sons or daughters (or mothers or fathers), each of is us an American!
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
https://americansonplay.com
Cast
Kerry Washington, Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan, Eugene Lee
Open/Close Dates
Opening 11/4/2018
Closing 1/27/2019
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 10/6/2018
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
Booth Theatre
222 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
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