Photo Source: Hubert Williams
Yet, the disappointing plot turns are forgivable, in part because the two central characters are so convincingly and entertainingly rendered in the single-named director Passion's staging. Scenic designer Pavlo Bosyy believably situates the play in the small Brooklyn law office of Michael Jamal Williams III, an African-American attorney representing white civil rights activist Billy Hall. Billy has filed suit against his former employers on the grounds that a promotion he felt he rightly deserved was given to an African-American woman. When we first meet Michael, a self-professed "bulldog" played by Michael Green, he juggles three phone lines, switching nimbly between conversations with his ex-wife, his father, his secretary, and his boss. This is an enormously effective technique on Armah's part—Michael talks to each character differently, showing us elements about his character and his connection to the case that could not be told in dialogue. Likewise, Jimmy Aquino gives a no-nonsense, businesslike performance as Billy.
Armah's script moves quickly from abstract reflections on race in America to humor to emotional confrontation, and both Green and Aquino navigate the dense material with the utmost naturalism. Eventually the two men find their way to the truth about Billy, and the unstable affair he had with an African American co-worker that actually wrecked his chances at the promotion. Michael's own link to Billy's mistress may strain credibility, but his desire to do right by her is palpable thanks to Green's performance.
Billy is ultimately shown to be a hypocrite who only cares about racial equality in the workplace as long as it doesn't apply to him. In a way, this conclusion is unfortunate and a little convenient, because one wonders how a contemplative playwright like Armah might have resolved the scenario had Billy been a truly upstanding activist with a legitimate reverse-discrimination suit.
Presented by New Heritage Theatre Group and Take Wing and Soar Productions at the Dwyer Cultural Center, 258 St. Nicholas Ave., NYC. October 9–30. Fri. and Sat., 7 p.m.; Sat., 2 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (212) 352-3101 or www.takewingandsore.com.
