Sadly enough, the play Brother Toad that Ensemble Theatre is about to present is all too immediately relevant today. It concerns guns and violence and the choices people make to employ either. Playwright Nathan Louis Jackson (Broke-ology) wrote it in 2018 but the list of events that could have inspired this are last year, last month, yesterday.
A young Black man, Marquis (Tanner Ellis), and his friend are sitting in a car when a white man opens fire on them. Marquis is injured but survives; his friend does not. Now his Uncle Randall (Nicholas Lewis) decides to organize a march calling for gun safety and an end to violence but at the same time, Marquis’ family is reluctant to participate.
Associate Artistic Director Rachel Hemphill Dickson is co-directing the 90-minute play with Ensemble Artistic Director Eileen J. Morris, who points out that the issue isn’t just something that’s a problem for minorities.
Speaking about the timeliness of this play, particularly in reference to the case of Ralph Yarl the 16-year old Kansas City, Missouri teen who in April went to the wrong house to pick up his brothers and was shot by the homeowner, Dickson said: “The choices that people make that the weapons they have affects others.
“This young man had no ill intent. But the fellow who had the weapon probably didn’t set out to have ill intent, but the choices he made with his weapon impacted that young man, and then thus on a national level and we’re part of the story. The ripple is great.”
In Brother Toad, Dickson said, “The major character has got a decision to make about how he interacts with weapons. But at least he’s getting the choice. His uncle is also making ta decision about how he interacts with weapons — is it to protect his family or is it to show force?'”.
Also in the cast are An’tick Von Morphixing, as Marqis’ mother Janelle, Aria Hope as Randall’s wife and Roc Living as Randall’s friend Chris.
The silver lining in all this violence Dickson believes, is that unlike ten years ago, people across the country are paying attention. “Now we’re listening and white American is hearing that it’s not just black and brown. These conversations now are about everybody. And hopefully it makes for change.”
This is the second time Ensemble has done a work by playwright Jackson, who explained why:
“I think he does a good job of getting inside the issue and making it transcend race and gender. He makes it a human condition story. Though it’s grounded in African American culture, he does a wonderful job in how he uses language and how he uses conversation to make something that is relevant for everyone.
“You may have no direct relationship to owning a weapon but you are impacted by the choices that others make. We all have to be involved in the gun control conversation whether you are pro ownership or anti-ownership in a conversation abou, about how ownership happens the ease with which people can procure weapons and the laws about carrying. Those affect us. Be engaged in the conversation.”
Performances are scheduled for May 11 through June 4 with previews May 6, 7 and 10 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays Ensemble Theatre, 3535 Main. For more information, call 713-520-0055 or visit ensemblehouston.com $34-$53.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
