Lizan Mitchell opens “brownsville song (b-side for tray)” with one of the most moving, riveting and emotional monologues I have heard in a play in years. Her heart, her tears and her anger all come at the audience at once when she is Lena, a grandmother raising her grandson Tray and her granddaughter Devine.
Lena has known a lot of pain, but she is also a bitter realist; she realizes that the death she has experienced may make the front page of the papers, but after that, no one will care, people just go on with their lives. She realizes that her problems are hers, and she needs to handle them and get on with her life.
Lena has a heart-wrenching story to tell, and just the way she introduces it makes the audience sit at attention and wait to hear what happened. You find yourself gripped and moved by the pain that this grandmother has endured.
“Brownsville song (b-side for tray)” depicts the unnecessary violence and tragedy that can happen in the Black ghetto community. This story, set in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, shows that there’s so much more to what you see in the headlines than you ever get to know about. It is wrong for any young person to be killed, but it seems even worse when the young person killed was someone who wasn’t part of the violence anymore, who put his life on the right path and was working and taking care of his education.
This production is a powerful theatrical experience. The story, written by Kimber Lee, points to the fact that loved ones being murdered can have boundless negative effects on the family members that they leave behind. People can cope with the sudden, violent loss of a loved one by sticking together or by turning to self-medication through drugs and alcohol in an effort to not have to think about the person they have lost.
The message of this play is very powerful and needs to be experienced. The cast is mesmerizing, and every moment they are on the stage counts toward getting the audience captivated. I was touched greatly by this amazing play and the outstanding performances of the company. As I’ve already stated, Mitchell is a force to be reckoned with from the opening monologue. Sheldon Best, who portrays Tray, gives a sensitive, at times amusing performance. Sun Mee Chomet plays Merrell, Tray’s stepmother and mother to his sister Devine, and she gives a moving performance. You feel her pain as to what she went through with the tragedy that has befallen the family.
Taliyah Whitaker is delightful and touching as Devine, a little girl who was close to her older brother and has a hard time accepting his sudden loss. Chris Myers delivers a good performance as Junior, Tray’s best friend. The performances all gel together through astonishing direction by Patricia McGregor.
Plays like this try to help an audience make sense of the killing of a young man in the ghetto for no justifiable reason. They help us to see that the thought process and rationale that gangs have for killing people demonstrate that this is a problem that must be addressed in society. A person’s life is worth a great deal.
Go and see “brownsville song (b-side for tray),” playing at Lincoln Center’s Claire Tow Theatre, located on West 65th Street. For more info, visit www.lct.org/shows/brownsville-song-b-side-for-tray.