Pass Over

B-

Someone cleverer than me summarized Antoinette Nwandu’s powerful play at LCT3's Claire Tow Theater as “Waiting for Godot meets Black Lives Matter.” That isn’t a bad description. Two young homeless black men, Moses (Jon Michael Hill; Superior Donuts) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood; Pipeline) are trapped on a decrepit urban block where they go through a daily routine of verbal games and daydreaming about escaping to the Promised Land, a routine occasionally punctuated by the reality of imminent violence. They are unable to break away from their awful corner. Two visitors arrive, Mister (Gabriel Ebert; 4000 Miles, Matilda the Musical), a seemingly benign but slightly creepy gentleman all dressed in white who has become lost on the way to his mother’s and offers the men the humorously vast array of food in his picnic basket. Their second visitor is Ossifer (also Ebert), a policeman, whose behavior is far from benign. For a surrealistic moment, Moses gains the powers of his namesake and vanquishes Ossifer. However, this story cannot realistically have a happy ending. Mister returns and shows his true colors with tragic results. As the final scene progresses, the house lights are gradually turned up as if to implicate the audience in the proceedings. It’s a highly theatrical work, ably directed by Danya Taymor (queens). The scenic design by Winston Chin (Next Fall, My Mañana Comes) is appropriately depressing and the costumes by Serafina Bush are apt. The sound design by Justin Ellington (Pipeline) makes ironic use of “Oh What a Beautiful Morning.” The lighting design by Marcus Doshi plays an important role in the production. I had to struggle to overcome my discomfort with the language; every fifth word is the N word. It’s a rough, uneven, occasionally muddled piece, but its energy is undeniable. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission. NOTE: Spike Lee filmed a performance of the play at Steppenwolf, available to watch online by those who have Amazon Prime.

Pipeline

B

Dominique Morisseau (Skeleton Crew) makes an impressive Lincoln Center Theater debut with this wrenching look at our society seen primarily through the eyes of a black teacher and her teenage son. Nya (Karen Pittman; Disgraced) teaches English in a tough urban high school. Her only child, Omari (Namir Smallwood), is at a private boarding school upstate where he has just been involved in a third incident that could get him expelled. The natural concern of a black mother for the safety of her son in a dangerous world is exacerbated by the fact that he is her only child and that her ex-husband Xavier (Morocco Omari) is providing little for the boy except child support. While Xavier has moved on, Nya still has feelings for him. We see Nya in the classroom, teaching an ominous Gwendolyn Brooks poem, “We Real Cool,” that frightens her; in the lunchroom exchanging barbs with Dun (Jaime Lincoln Smith), the security guard whose flirtations she fends off, and commiserating with fellow teacher Laurie (Tasha Lawrence; Good People), who has been losing the battle against student violence; at Omari’s school where she interrogates his Latina girlfriend Jasmine (Heather Velazquez), another fish out of water at the lily-white school, to find out where Omari is; and at home alone, finding solace in cigarettes and liquor. Morisseau does not spell everything out for us. Only the projections between scenes, escalating from images of black students at school to violent students to handcuffed young blacks on a bus, indicate that the title refers to the school-to-prison pipeline too often traveled by black youth. The acting is uniformly strong; my one quibble is that Smallwood looks too old for a secondary student. The characters are vividly drawn. Jasmine and Laurie are such dynamic presences that they almost hijack the play. The elevated, rather poetic style of speech the playwright occasionally turns to has the effect of making the characters sound more alike than they should. There are individual scenes that are wonderful, but they don’t cohere into as satisfying a whole as I would have wished. The set by Matt Saunders with its cinderblock walls, linoleum floor and bright fluorescent lights creates an aptly harsh institutional setting. The costumes by Montana Levi Blanco befit the characters well. The direction by Lileana Blain-Cruz (War; Red Speedo) is unfussy and assured. Although I have some reservations, I found the play well worth seeing. Running time: one hour 25 minutes; no intermission.

Note: The Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater has been refurbished with very comfortable new seats. The space formerly occupied by the coat lockers, whose use was halted by security concerns, is now filled by a colorful attractive mural of Lincoln Center.