Baraka Bullins & Fletcher: 3 One-Acts is remarkable for its depth, subject matter, talent and – last but not least – for its location. The New Federal Theatre is located on Grand Street way over near the East River. You can hardly get there from here, but plenty of people are making the effort.
This collection of three plays deals with motherhood, drugs, and dreams, and the debilitating power of gangs to smother life. The simplest and most powerful of the three is Amarie by Hugh L. Fletcher. Three women, played by Sherise Pruitt, Chrystal Stone, and Lisa Strum, tell the tale of a mother and her teenage daughter who is on her way to being a mother herself. Resentment is about to blossom into betrayal. Fletcher chronicles the story with such a simple stroke that you are caught up before you can help yourself.
Salaam, Huey Newton, Salaam by Ed Bullins and Marvin X is less powerful but still riveting. This is the story of a man reflecting on his descent into madness because of his affair with drugs. Along the way Huey Newton is introduced to us at the end of his spectacular life. The story is strong on character, aided by actors Michael Alcide, Gamo Grills, and Harrison Lee, but weak on plot and direction as it slides down the slippery slope of repetition and exposition.
The second act is devoted entirely to Amiri Baraka’s The Toilet. This is the story of a gang of high school boys with too much time on their hands. It is a classic tale – reminding me of The Oxbow Incident and Twelve Angry Men – that takes us into the small torture room where men’s minds get twisted around, all for the sake of who will wear the crown. It happens in toilets, and it happens in territories, and in the end there is no difference in the smell. The direction is unfocused, but the cast is solid and remarkably connected to the tale, to each other, and to us.
Article comments