The continuing vitality of African-American theater will be demonstrated in Fort Worth this week when two new plays open.
Jubilee Theatre brings us Broke-ology, a play by Nathan Louis Jackson that had its debut in New York only in 2009. Set in one house in Kansas City, Kan. (a poorer suburb of the similarly named Missouri city across the border), the play tells the story of a couple in 1982 wanting to start a family and then picks up in the present day, with the father widowed and suffering from multiple sclerosis and his two sons looking at far different futures. A ground-level look at the working poor and the difficulties of moving up into a better life, the play won praise for its observations and its dialogue.
If you’re looking for something from a female point of view instead, DVA Productions opens Jennifer Porter Kennard’s A Big Girl’s Guide to Love, a comedy that hasn’t had much play yet but tells the story of an independent successful woman’s search for romance and promises to dispense advice for people of all shapes and sizes. These stage works come to us in the wake of Tyler Perry’s latest opus playing at Grand Prairie last week, and they should give us better fare.
Broke-ology runs May 18-Jun 10 at Jubilee Theatre, 506 Main St, FW. Tickets are $10-25. Call 817-338-4411.
A Big Girl’s Guide to Love runs May 18-27 at Pantagleize Theatre, 1115 S Main St, FW. Tickets are $15. Call 817-313-3052.
