Fremont Ave., Kreeger Theatre, Arena Stage, Washington, DC

 

Bradley Gibson as Robert, Stanley Andrew Jackson as Walter, Wildlin Pierrevil as Frank, and Jeffrey Rashad as Tony in Fremont Ave. at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin.

Reggie D. White’s Fremont Ave. receives an inspired production in its world premiere run at Washington’s Arena Stage, continuing through November 23, in a co-production with South Coast Repertory. White has a true gift for creating dialogue that is smart, snappy, character-appropriate, and by turns, raucously funny and poignantly moving. In a sense, White has given us three plays in one, unified by a family’s three generations – and some characteristics that are shared among them – in a single setting of a Los Angeles suburb over three decades. Under the deft direction of Lili-Anne Brown, the eight actors create a panorama that spans the years from 1968 through the 1990s, up to the 2020s. The changes in time are accomplished through costumes (designed by Jos N. Banks) and period music, as well as news reporting of events including the Rodney King incident and the characters’ discussion of Clarence Thomas as a new Supreme Court justice. Some clues are more subtle, such as when the characters consider the effect of the AIDS epidemic and changes in social structure.

The play begins in a rom-com “meet cute” as music therapist and academician George Plinque welcomes the headstrong Audrey, who has come to interview for a position as a part-time housekeeper. George has never hired help before, so the encounter takes on a different form: Audrey is uncertain whether it is an interview or a date. The somewhat-sassy, smart talking, and casually drinking Audrey senses George’s attraction to her and pulls away from it at first. (When George offers her a drink for the first time she accepts, noting that she is a woman, not a lady.) George is unaware that she is married because, in their employer-employee relationship, all of their conversations had revolved around him and his work. Audrey’s life has not been an easy one: she has put together several different jobs to support herself, her son Robert, and her current husband (not Robert’s father). George uses his music to woo Audrey, who provides him with what she calls “persistent encouragement” (he calls it “nagging”) required for him to write an article he has been assigned.  Audrey puts George’s house in order in more ways than one, providing him with a structure he needs to succeed.

Jerrika Hinton as Audrey in Fremont Ave. at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin.

The second part of the play revolves around the dynamic relationships between four Black men, now almost-thirtysomething college classmates who get together for a weekly game of Spades. The host is Robert, Audrey’s son and George’s stepson, who has taken the bar exam on numerous occasions but has yet to pass. His three friends are lawyers who have achieved certain success, one (Frank) working in the office of the local district attorney, another (Tony) who has become a public defender, and one (Walter) who has achieved financial success but is endangering his career because of philandering and drugs. As the men banter and play cards over time, sensitive relationships and rifts are exposed, though their shared experiences will never abate. Audrey passes through on several occasions, a character who becomes more and more involved in her church work, now forbidding alcohol in her home (or at least in her presence). George is unseen, but his presence is felt.

The third part of the play finds three generations of Plinque men: older versions of George (now a grandfather) and Robert (now the father), along with Joseph, the grandson/son, who have gathered together following the Audrey’s passing. There is much sorting-through to be done, not just of physical objects, but of truths and feelings. Each man’s life has been largely defined by his relationship with Audrey in her roles as wife, mother, and grandmother, but for them to come to terms with that, they must come to terms with their own lives. Each has chased a success largely defined by someone else: George gave up dreams of being a songwriter in order to have a life with Audrey, Robert chased a career in law because he believed that was what his father wanted for him, and Joseph has avoided “settling down” and commitment, which he believes is what his father wanted for him. The fourth character in this part of the play is Damon, whom we learn is Walter’s son and who has long held a special place in Joseph’s life.

I don’t want to say too much, because I don’t want to spoil the audience’s discovery of events and relationships that have evolved. Suffice it to say that White manages a few unexpected revelations as the evening unfolds, more than enough to keep the audience engaged.

In addition to the same setting and the same family being involved in all three stories, a common attitude is expressed in each part: expecting the worst possible outcome. In the earliest events of the play, George asks Audrey, “Why do you always assume something bad is gonna happen?” Audrey’s response is echoed later in the play: “Because in my experience, ‘something bad happening’ is inevitable. And I’d much rather be prepared and pleasantly surprised than caught off guard.” Robert repeats the sentiment in a conversation with Tony in the second part of the play, in response to the same exact question: “Because in my experience, T, ‘something bad happening’ is inevitable. And I’d much rather—.” He doesn’t finish the sentence, because we know what follows. And in the final part of the play. Damon asks Joseph the exact same question. Joseph’s response: “Because in my experience, Dame, ‘something bad happening’ is inevitable. And I’d rather be prepared--.”

Jeffrey Rashad as Tony and Stanley Andrew Jackson as Walter in Fremont Ave. at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin

The production at Arena Stage is first rate. Bradley Gibson as George, then Robert, and finally Joseph, masterfully creates three distinctive characters: so much so that I had to check the program to be sure that the same actor was playing all three characters. Jerrika Hinton’s Audrey is such a singular character that, even as the years pass, she establishes the evolution of the character from tentative, wary housekeeper candidate to church pillar and family matriarch in a way that permeates even the scenes in which she doesn’t appear. Gibson and Hinton have what appears to be such a natural, unforced chemistry in the first portion of the play, I would have been happy to watch those two characters demonstrate the major events in their marriage for the remainder of the evening.

Wildin Pierrevil as Frank, Jeffrey Rashad as Tony, and Stanley Andrew Jackson as Walter each create honest characterizations in their roles as college compadres to Gibson’s Robert in the second portion of the play. Jackson’s energetic portrayal of Walter becomes all the more stark in retrospect as the action proceeds. Rashad’s Tony elicits the audience’s empathy effortlessly, thanks to his performance and White’s script. Pierrevil’s portrayal of Frank has the appropriate combination of youthful exuberance and gravitas.

As “older George” and “older Robert,” Doug Brown and Kevin Mambo must – and do – create believable, aged versions of the younger characters, which appears effortless. As Damon, Galen J. Williams injects an energy that we didn’t realize we were missing when he appears in the third part of the play, in a flamboyant but emotional performance.

The set, designed by Tim Mackabee, creates an extremely realistic and detailed southern California home as it changes in stages from one period to another. Jos N. Banks’s costumes suitably comment on period and character with wit, without calling undue attention to themselves. Lighting, sound, and wig and hair design (by Kathy A. Perkins, André Pluess, and LaShawn Melton, respectively) add to the sense of period and character.

I have some personal quibbles with the play, but overall, I was drawn in to the events emotionally, I laughed freely at appropriate moments, and was genuinely moved at times. I look forward to learning how the play and production are received at South Coast Repertory and what happens after, because White’s work deserves to be seen by a wide audience. Note: the play includes language and situations that I would consider appropriate only for adults.

Bradley Gibson as Joseph, Doug Brown as Older George, Kevin Mambo as Older Robert, and Galen J. Williams as Damon in Fremont Ave. at Arena Stage. Photo credit: Marc J. Franklin.