Nona Parker Johnson and Donté Ashon Green (Photo by Cooper Bates)
Reviewed by Deborah Klugman
Echo Theater Company at Atwater Village Theatre
Through October
RECOMMENDED
How It’s Gon’ Be, playwright JuCoby Johnson’s cogent coming-of-age drama, takes place in a Black community in Jacksonville, Florida one hot sticky summer in the early 2000s. Directed by Ahmed Best with an accomplished hand, it speaks to the human need for intimacy and love, and to the hurt inside us that stands in the way of our attaining what we long for the most.
Sixteen-year-old Jahaan (Donté Ashon Green), who’s been writing poetry since he was 6, is a student at a predominantly White local Magnet school for the arts. He lives with his mom, Angela (Karla Mosley), while his father, Kenny (Sedale Threatt Jr), who serves in the military, works elsewhere at some distant post– a circumstance Jahaan deeply resents and, though she’d agreed to the arrangement, upsets Angela as well.
School is out, so Jahann gets to spend time with his tried-and-true pals since childhood, Rashad (Michael Howard-Dossett), whose brashness conceals his own smarting injuries, and Terry (Durran Moreau), a soft, sweet kind of youth whose same-sex proclivities seem clear from the start. His other friend Lady (Nona Parker Johnson) is a poised and lovely teen with more intuitive smarts than the three youths combined. Jahann’s desperate crush on her, begun in grade school, has only grown more ardent with the passing years.
Jumpstarting the conflict is the news that Jahann’s dad is returning for a lengthy stay. Overjoyed, Angela makes plans for the three of them to spend time as a family. But Jahann has little interest in building bridges with his dad, who rarely calls when he’s away and is distant when he’s not. As for Kenny, though he tries, he’s not sure how to bond with a youth for whom creative writing takes precedence over sports.
All these characters come together in this production in vibrant vital color.
Johnson’s true-to-life dialogue, his lyrical poems woven throughout the text and his relatable story about one teen reaching for manhood are enriched under Best’s sensitive, meticulous direction. When Kenny tickles Angela on the couch or Lady acknowledges with the trace of a smile Jahann’s devotion since first grade, the interchange plays as intimately and naturally as real life.
Mosley’s animated Angela — a strict but loving parent who would lay down her life for her child — galvanizes the play, and her performance remains the standout throughout. As Lady, Parker Johnson exudes grace and emotional intelligence in a finely etched portrayal. Howard-Dossett delivers a layered turn as Rashad — a typically gruff-talking teen when we meet him, whose exterior, when peeled away, reveals an emotionally yearning boy. Moreau’s Terry is a more fixed presence but with a poignant and arresting moment near the end.
As Jahann, Green successfully projects the persona of a typically good kid who carries with him the pain of feeling rejected by his dad — but a bit more texture might augment the role. Threatt’s Kenny presents as a man who seems not quite at home in his own home — at un-ease that filters ever so slightly into his performance. Both depictions are fine — yet could be calibrated to greater effect.
Designer Amanda Knehans’s figurative set, lit by Justin Huen, suggests a home that’s fractured but not so much that it’s lost its warmth. Costumes by Amanda Knehans Ann Closs-Farley and Sophia April Grose are enhancing for the women characters, suitable for the men. And a sound design by Alysha Bermudez filters into the ambience with the subtle sensuous notes of a humid summer of change.
Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3161 Casitas Ave., Atwater. Fri.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 4 pm., Mon., 8 pm; thru Oct. 28. www.EchoTheaterCompany.com
Running time: one hour and 45 minutes with an intermission.
