James T. Lawson II and Julio Hanson (Photo by Kermit Carlyle Photography)
Reviewed by Martίn Hernández
The Robey Theatre Company
Through November 15
RECOMMENDED
Julio Hanson and Ashlee Olivia (Photo by Kermit Carlyle Photography)
Anyone following Los Angeles politics for the last 30 years may well be aware of the impressive rise and ignoble fall of Mark Ridley-Thomas. He was an effective and popular elected official serving a majority Black constituency in South Central L.A. However, his involvement in various scandals tarnished his reputation and in 2023 he was convicted on various federal charges, receiving a 42 month sentence.
Whether playwright Reginald Edmund’s work is an effort to cleanse Ridley-Thomas’ public persona and/or for Ridley-Thomas to settle political scores is up for debate — the former politico and his spouse attended on opening night after his recently failed appeal. Regardless, despite its problematic structure, the play succeeds both as a cautionary tale for any promising Black leader threatening White America’s status quo as well as a noirish lambasting of backstabbing municipal politics.
While the names have been changed to protect the innocent, the guilty, and those in between, those in the know can guess who each character represents. Edmund uses Ridley-Thomas’ story as a template for the saga of Marcellus Turner (Julio Hanson), an ethical and proud politician. Starting in media res, Marcellus and his devoted wife Av (Ashlee Olivia) are interviewed by journalist Jamal Brooks (Joshua Bruce) after Marcellus’s felony conviction. The play then flashes back on the events leading to Marcellus’ political unraveling.
We witness Marcellus and Av as high school sweethearts (despite Av’s initially judging him as arrogant) who marry early and forge a loving and faithful relationship. She becomes his rock and most trusted political advisor. After many lofty successes as a community activist, Marcellus decides to run for city council. Once elected, he remains a staunch supporter of his community, notably when Angel Beaumont (Tanesha Viverette), one of many low-income homeowners, seeks his help to prevent her and her neighbors’ displacement by a local university’s expansion. As Marcellus confronts powerful and entrenched political and economic forces, he wrestles with choices that may compromise his moral beliefs and his promising career.
Edmund’s play works like an extended Law and Order episode, with the titles of the multitude of vignettes projected on screens positioned upstage and stage left. Most are expository or superfluous snippets, and the practice gets tedious after a while. The longer bits, however, such as those featuring Marcellus and Av as comrades in love and politics or Angel’s righteous monologue directed at the university’s indifferent president (Nicole Gabriella Scipione) are captivating.
Projection designer Jermaine Alexander presents bittersweet archival images of Black people struggling against racism, juxtaposed with AI slop that unfortunately diminishes the legitimacy of that same community’s battles. Composer Cydney Wayne Davis’s catchy opening theme song and the background classic soul tracks add ample opportunity for head-bobbing pleasure. Director Ben Guillory, draws appealing performances from most of his cast members (despite line flubs by some actors) as he adroitly maneuvers them on the panoramic stage. And Edmund peppers his script with pungent critiques of racism, drawing both knowing sighs and laughs.
James T. Lawson II shines as Riley, Marcellus’s loyal cousin and resident bullshit detector. Riley’s deadpan humor — heaping scorn on the duplicity of White people — is offset by his no- nonsense disparagement of Marcellus’s allegiance to longtime White supporter and billionaire developer Caleb Cunningham (Darrell Philip). As Karen Fisher, Marcellus’s ally and fellow council member, Enisha Brewster nimbly embodies the dilemma ambitious Black women face in getting ahead in politics; likewise, Viverette’s Angel is equally persuasive in her presentation of disadvantaged Black women living in gentrifying neighborhoods who are just getting by.
The Robey Theatre Company, LATC, Theater 4, 514 South Spring St.; Thurs.-Sat., 8 pm, Sun., 3 pm; thru Nov. 15. www.therobeytheatrecompanyorg/upcoming Runtime: Two hours, plus 15 minute intermission.
