This afternoon I went to the New York Historical Society to see two excellent exhibits that were closing this weekend: Harry Potter: A History of Magic and Billie Jean King: The Road to 75. I had the time to see another one that is running until March. Titled Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, this chronological study explores fifty years of struggle for racial equality and full citizenship throughout America for former African American slaves and their descendants. Last night, I saw Kerry Washington deliver a magnificent performance in American Son, a play which takes place now, a century later. Both the exhibit and this play address the systemic issues facing a minority group and their white overlords.
The exhibit was arranged to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Fourteenth Amendment which dealt with citizenship rights, equal protection and due process. From that monumental 1868 moment, what followed in America included no jury lynching, voter suppression (poll taxes, violence), minstrel shows, the erection of Confederate monuments and an inevitable massive migration northward. Centuries and centuries and centuries of oppression and strife.
American Son takes place at a police station lobby in Miami slightly after 4:00 in the early morning hours. Kendra is losing patience waiting for information about her eighteen year old son. He did not return home that evening after the two of them had a fight. She is a psychology professor at a university and her estranged husband works for the FBI. They live amidst privilege. Their son has been accepted to West Point after high school. The white, lunkish cop on duty (Jeremy Jordan) is not very helpful. After begging, she does learn that her son’s car had been pulled over and there is currently an active investigation. As the mother of a black man in America today, all her nightmare scenarios percolate in her panicked state.
As Kendra, Ms. Washington (Race, Scandal) spends nearly the entire ninety minutes of this play onstage with three men: her husband, the officer and a higher ranking Lieutenant. Rather than tiptoe through this combustible material, playwright Christopher Demos-Brown covers the expected divide which has manifested itself with the shocking chasm between #BlackLivesMatter and #BlueLivesMatter. Within this context, how do you raise an African American son?
The issue of appearance and behavior is a major focus of this story. Kendra’s son has started wearing cornrows and baggy clothing. A hundred years ago, society forced black people to walk on the correct side of the street. In my lifetime, they were supposed to drink only out of colored water fountains. Currently, white supremacists are marching openly in the south carrying Confederate flags and wearing swastikas. I found myself thinking. Are the presumably real risks of dress code and appearance a continuing part of our long, sad, pendulum swinging attempt at Reconstruction?
American Son does tend to slather the drama a bit thickly at times in trying to hit so many slights and targets. The officer mentions that he’s “keeping the natives at bay” while trying to stop Kendra going “from zero to ghetto.” The audience gasps in outraged recognition but the effect is slightly sophomoric. In possibly the most over-the-top line, her husband says, “Today it’s cornrows. Tomorrow he’ll be helping O.J. find the real killer.” The excess sludge notwithstanding, the play is memorably theatrical. All the performers do fine work here including Steven Pasquale and Eugene Lee.
Most impressive about this piece, however, is the attempt to provide a framework for discussing race, racism and our country’s criminal legal system. For sure, the audience for American Son will be confronted with the never ending plight African Americans face on a daily basis. This world is complicated and these characters are imperfect people, as are we all. After the play’s memorable ending, I was not sure anything was truly resolved mirroring the world in which we live. For that reason, this play is essential viewing with a powerhouse Ms. Washington an ideal guide to help us move this particular conversation forward.
American Son and this Broadway cast will be shown on Netflix. After the final performance on January 27th, the play will be taped without an audience. This topical work is deserving of a wide viewership.