brownsville song (b-side for tray) presented by Theater Alliance at Anacostia Playhouse

brownsville song (b-side for tray)

Anacostia Playhouse
2020 Shannon Place SE Washington

Life in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn can feel predictable, and inevitable, but Tray has a way out. Then, when a senseless act of violence cuts his life short, his family must confront their grief and find a way to move forward. Kimber Lee’s hopeful drama shifts between memory and reality, and bids that we examine the personal pain beyond the headlines.

Presented by Theater Alliance

Thru - Oct 9, 2016

Price: $40

www.theateralliance.com/tickets/

brownsville song (b-side for tray) Reviews

Average Rating based on 3 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

DC Theater Arts - Highly Recommended

"...Playwright Kimber Lee was moved to write brownsville song (b-side for tray) in response to the shooting death of a real young man named Tray Franklin in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Lee did not want Franklin to be a statistic, another name in the endless eulogies and obituaries about young black men whose lives ended in gun violence. So Lee created a character named Tray, borrowed aspects of his life from the real Tray—a teen with a passion for boxing, a scholarship he was awarded on the strength of a personal essay, and a father who too was shot to death, when Tray was a boy. Lee then imagined the family that her Tray left behind, the family who loved him and now lived with his absence."

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- John Stoltenberg

DCTheatreScene - Recommended

"...Debra Kim Sivigny's sets are a highlight of the production, featuring large, beautiful mural walls and chain-link fence, transporting us to the streets of Brooklyn. Her expert costumes further realize this world. The original music by Nick the 1da is fantastic - melding piano with hip-hop and classical with rap - lending an energetic beat for the action of the play. The lighting by William K. D'Eugenio is dark and moody, bathing the action in a sharp contrast of light and shadow as we weave in and out of time."

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- Sarah Scafidi

BroadwayWorld - Recommended

"...Brownsville Song (b-side for tray) refutes dangerous assumptions about the "inevitability" of death in poor, urban neighborhoods by showing the incredible magnitude of one life lost. It's a desperately needed conversation in U.S. cities, where shocking inequality remains starkly divided along racial lines, and often separated by a mere few blocks. Emotionally potent, heartily acted, and boldly convicting, this production sings on a human frequency that everyone can hear."

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- Derek Schwabe

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brownsville song (b-side for tray) presented by Theater Alliance at Anacostia Playhouse