‘American Son’ Theater Review: Kerry Washington Brings #BlackLivesMatter Debate to Broadway
Christopher Demos-Brown’s drama confronts a ripped-from-the-headlines story about race and policing
Thom Geier | November 4, 2018 @ 5:00 PM
Last Updated: November 4, 2018 @ 5:22 PM
Photo: Peter Cunningham
In life, there are seldom black-and-white villains. And that’s true of the flawed but relatable characters in Christopher Demos-Brown’s ripped-from-the-headlines drama “American Son,” which opened Sunday in a polished and starry Broadway production.
Kerry Washington, who’s become a bigger star on “Scandal” since her Broadway debut in David Mamet’s “Race” nearly a decade ago, plays the mother of a just-turned-18-year-old boy who hasn’t returned home but whose car has turned up in the police system. By turns worried, frustrated and angry, this PhD-holding college professor confronts the rookie Miami cop (Jeremy Jordan) in the precinct waiting room.
Officer Larkin is the sort of young Southern white male who doesn’t know Charles Dickens from Emily Dickinson and seems as prone to microaggressions as he is to eating donuts. But he’s just an overnight-shift underling following “protocol,” waiting for a more senior officer to turn up for his early morning shift.
Washington’s Kendra has cause for concern. Her son, Jamal, may be bound for West Point in the fall after attending good (mostly white) suburban schools, but he’s also a 6-foot-2 African American male with cornrows — who was apparently pulled over by the cops late at night driving the second-hand Lexus registered in his father’s name.
The issue of race — and the fate of young African American men like Philando Castile, Eric Garner and Tamir Rice at the hands of the police — is never far from Kendra’s mind. Nor apparently from young Officer Larkin’s, as he seems incredulous that Jamal isn’t in the system for some even minor offense and later complains that Kendra “went from zero to ghetto” in no time at all.
Unfortunately, the badge-wearing FBI agent to whom he confides this turns out to be Scott (Steven Pasquale), Kendra’s recently estranged husband and Jamal’s father. This escalates the tension — especially as dad learns more about his son’s recent troubles since Kendra and Scott split up (and Jamal’s decision to put a “Shoot cops with your phone whenever they make a bust” bumper sticker on the Lexus).
Washington and Pasquale present a convincing portrait of squabbling exes — she even chides him on his use of “white trash” slang. Just when you begin to wonder whatever brought them together in the first place, they begin reminiscing about their shared affinity for hard work, respecting their elders, Thai food and Thelonious Monk. (Really, classic jazz?)
When an African American lieutenant (Eugene Lee, terrifically forceful) arrives to take charge of the situation, the drama kicks into overdrive. We also see new shades of black, and blue, in the issue of race and policing. Lee’s Lt. Stokes is a by-the-book, seen-at-all type whose advice to black men pulled over is “shut up and do what I say.” (He also recoils at the suggestion that he’s an Uncle Tom.)
In her first stage role in nearly a decade, Washington is a revelation. Dressed in a cardigan and jeans, she is the portrait of a woman who is one increasingly raw nerve ending, struggling to maintain her hard-won, much-prized composure as circumstances make that increasingly difficult.
Director Kenny Leon keeps the action taut during the 90-minute running time, perhaps too taut. There isn’t much breathing room in the production — and the ending is so abrupt that it’s a wonder the curtain drop doesn’t give the actors whiplash. This is the rare show that would benefit from a longer running time, from more scenes exploring the characters in greater depth.
There are other issues, too. Despite the best efforts of his talented cast, too often the characters can seem like mouthpieces for different points of view in a plot jerry-rigged in ways that don’t always ring true. For instance, it’s hard to swallow that Pasquale’s FBI agent is the one who majorly loses his cool at the show’s climax — or that he hasn’t considered, let alone discussed, some of the issues of rearing a biracial son in modern America until this fateful night.
Still, it’s bracing to see a new American play grappling with serious, timely issues in a thoughtful way. It may take the star power of Kerry Washington (and producers like Shonda Rhimes, Jada Pinkett Smith, Dwayne Wade and Gabrielle Union-Wade), but even Broadway can get woke.
15 Actresses Who've Called Out Hollywood on Sexism (Photos)
As we've seen many, many times throughout the years, Hollywood isn't exactly the best when it comes to keeping sexism and sexist attitudes far from the workplace.
Here are 15 actresses who have called Hollywood out on its sexism.
Jennifer Lawrence
Back in 2015, Jennifer Lawrence wrote that higher pay for “the lucky people with dicks” needs to end in an essay for Lenny, Lena Dunham‘s feminist newsletter.
“I’m over trying to the find the ‘adorable’ way to state my opinion and still be likable,” she wrote. “F--- that. I don’t think I’ve ever worked for a man in charge who spent time contemplating what angle he should use to have his voice heard. It’s just heard.”
Read her full letter “Why Do I Make Less Than My Male Co-Stars?” here.
Patricia Arquette
Patricia Arquette's acceptance speech for her first Oscar in 2015 served as a call to action for equal pay.
"To every woman who gave birth to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation, we have fought for everybody else's equal rights. It's our time to have wage equality once and for all, and equal rights for women in the United States of America."
Mo'Nique
Oscar winning actress and comedian Mo'Nique took a break from starring in movies because she felt like she was being treated as if she just "got off the Greyhound bus."
“When you win an Academy Award, what do you believe that the award is supposed to do?” the actress asked TheWrap rhetorically in a 2015 interview.
“So, when we get offers that appear as if I just got off the Greyhound bus and just got to Hollywood and we say, ‘Well, can we get what’s fair?’ That’s gonna appear overly aggressive if they [studios and production companies] are not used to people saying, ‘Can you just give us what’s fair.'”
Jamie Denbo
"Orange is the New Black" star Jamie Denbo was told that she was too old to play the wife of a 57-year-old actor -- she was only 43 though. “I was just informed that at the age of 43, I am TOO OLD to play the wife of a 57 year old,” Denbo wrote to Twitter. “Oh, the characters also have an 18 year-old daughter. I am TOO OLD to be the mother of an 18 year-old.”
The OITNB actress said that the actor had requested an age limit for his TV wife. "Old white men, enjoy your last run. We are all f---ing done with you lizards," she concluded.
Maggie Gyllenhaal
“Sherrybaby” star, Maggie Gyllenhaal was turned down for a role because she was “too old” to play the love interest for a 55-year-old man. She was 37 at the time. “It was astonishing to me,” the actress told TheWrap. “It made me feel bad, and then it made me feel angry, and then it made me laugh.”
Helen Mirren
Academy Award winning actress jumped to Maggie Gyllenhaal's defense at TheWrap's Power Women's Breakfast in 2015 and calling it “f---ing outrageous” that 37-year-old Maggie Gyllenhaal was recently told she was too old to play the lover of a 55-year-old man.
“It’s ridiculous. And ’twas ever thus. We all watched James Bond as he got more and more geriatric, and his girlfriends got younger and younger. It’s so annoying,” she said.
Jessica Lange
"American Horror Story" star Jessica Lange spoke out on sexism and ageism in Hollywood in light of Maggie Gyllenhaal's comments and said that this isn't a new phenomenon.
“Hollywood is run with this male point of view. Even if a woman runs a studio, she still does it with a male point of view. And as long as that exists, you’re still going to have this wish fulfillment,” Lange said during an interview with TheWrap Magazine.
Rose McGowan
"Grindhouse" star Rose McGowan realized that being on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine in 2007 represented everything that she had come to hate about her career and industry.
“It’s always part and parcel of it, you’re expected as a woman, this is what you trade off of, this is how you sell tickets to the movies, this is your part of it,” she told TheWrap. “Your job as a promoter is this: They’re not sticking a guy on the cover doing it, unless it’s like Seth Rogen doing a joke. So as a woman I’m expected to sell myself, my body, my image, my sexuality, in order to get your ticket sales up. It’s kind of fucked up. And it’s like, wait, I wasn’t aware that when I signed on to act, I had to sell myself that much.”
Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart denounced gender disparities in the entertainment industry in 2015, saying “Hollywood is disgustingly sexist.”
“Women inevitably have to work a little bit harder to be heard,” the “Twilight” star said. “It’s crazy. It’s so offensive it’s crazy.”
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep said that she counted up all of the male and female film critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website, which she said is often used by people to determine which movies to see, noticed the lack of female critics.
“There are 168 women. And I thought that’s absolutely fantastic, and if there were 168 men it would be balanced,” Streep said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “If there were 268 men it would be unfair but I would be used to it, if there were 360, if there were 4 … actually there are 760 men who weigh in on the Tomatometer.”
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock does not like the way women are treated by the media, and said it is collectively “harming girls and women in a way, at a speed, that it’s scaring me.”
“I feel like it’s become open hunting season in how women are attacked and it’s not because of who we are as people, it’s because of how we look or our age,” she told E! News during a “Minions” press junket. “I’m shocked, and maybe I was just naïve, but I’m embarrassed by it. My son is getting ready to grow up in this world and I’m trying to raise a good man who values and appreciates women, and here we have this attack on women in the media that I don’t see a stop happening.”
Mila Kunis
Mila Kunis penned an open letter in A Plus detailing her experiences with sexism in the industry.
"You'll never work in this town again."
A cliché to be sure, but also what a producer threatened when I refused to pose semi-naked on the cover of a men's magazine to promote our film. I was no longer willing to subject myself to a naïve compromise that I had previously been willing to. 'I will never work in this town again?' I was livid, I felt objectified, and for the first time in my career I said 'no.' And guess what? The world didn't end."
During The Women of Sundance brunch this past year, Kerry Washington spoke out against people labeling casting black women leads as taking a "risk."
She also added that she enjoys being behind the camera because she's able to include people that reflect what the real world looks like.
"I love acting and I love my day job, I love it so very much, but becoming a producer, producing Confirmation and starting my own production company, I get to hire other women, people of color and people of the LGBTQ community," she said. "I want to make sure that people society has labeled as 'other' have a chance to be leaders, and to make the table look like what the real world looks like."
Olivia Wilde
In a 2014 panel, the "House" star said: "It’s really hard to get stories made that are about women — not just women being obsessed with men or supporting men. And it’s really hard to get men to be a part of films that are about women in a leading role."
Mindy Kaling
During an interview with Lena Dunham, "The Mindy Project" star pointed out that sometimes journalists ask sexist questions.
More than half the questions I am asked are about the politics of the way I look. What it feels like to be not skinny/dark-skinned/a minority/not conventionally pretty/female/etc," she said. "It's not very interesting to me, but I know it's interesting to people reading an interview. Sometimes I get jealous of white male showrunners when 90 percent of their questions are about characters, story structure, creative inspiration, or, hell, even the business of getting a show on the air. Because as a result the interview of me reads like I'm interested only in talking about my outward appearance and the politics of being a minority and how I fit into Hollywood, blah blah blah. I want to shout, 'Those were the only questions they asked!'"
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From Jennifer Lawrence to Kerry Washington, these actresses have all called Hollywood out on its BS
As we've seen many, many times throughout the years, Hollywood isn't exactly the best when it comes to keeping sexism and sexist attitudes far from the workplace.
Here are 15 actresses who have called Hollywood out on its sexism.
