Pipeline—Portland Playhouse—NE Portland

          “All the Colors of the Rainbow”

    This topical drama is written by Dominique Morisseau and directed by Damaris Webb, and co-production with Confrontation Theatre.  It is playing at their space, 602 NE Prescott St. (parking lot two blocks North on 6^th Ave.), through March 15^th.  For more information, go to their site at portlandplayhouse.org

    A pipeline is a connection between one point of origin and another.  It is a conduit, in the strictest sense, for fossil fuels but, if you broaden the definition, it is any connection between sources of power, such as the Internet or Education or Heritage, that fuels one’s mind and soul, and permits growth.  But, like all growths, it must be properly nurtured for a mature product to emerge.  And, like all things exposed to the elements, there are multiple outcomes possible for this seed, and what, or who, will be the dominant force to determine that direction?  “Ah, there’s the rub…!”

    Nya (Ramona Lisa Alexander) is a teacher in a high school and a single mom raising a teenage boy, Omari (La’ Tevin Alexander), who is suffering from the angst of being a Youth in today’s alien culture, and being a product of divorced parents, which adds to the burden, making him feel like, perhaps, “a stranger in a strange land.”  He loves his mother but feels stifled by her.  He is estranged from his father (Xavier (Reggie Lee Wilson) and, to top it off, he feels his teacher is provoking him by comparing him, perhaps, to the angry character in Richard Wright’s, “Native Son,” and so he lashes out physically against the instructor and is suspended.

    But his “saving grace” is his girlfriend, Jasmine (Tyharra Cozier), who loves him but feels he has a “rocket in his pocket” and is about to explode.  Violence seems to be a pre-requisite for this school, as another teacher, the feisty, Laurie (Alissa Jessup), Nya’s friend, has confrontations more than once and herself may loose it one day.  Dun (Jasper Howard), a security guard, stresses that following protocol is necessary to maintain order but, in a war, protocol seems to go out the window.  This is a surface sketch of the plot and to get to the heart of the matter, to see how it turns out, you’ll just have to observe it for yourself.

    This is all too familiar territory in the lives of our teens nowadays, especially our African-American Youth, having to fight prejudice and intolerance, too.  This is a gripping assessment of what our future may hold for us, with how our Youth are being “educated” today.  Not a pretty picture.  This story is a slice of reality from an author who has, I believe, experienced it.  “Attention must be paid,” or we will sink into chaos and disharmony.  The solution for this story is very touching and a good first step in that journey toward redemption.

    The cast is excellent and well chosen by Webb, who is also the director of Vanport Mosaic out of IFCC, another powerful, artistic voice in the community.  The staging is simple, so that we can concentrate on the story.  And the play is designed to not take sides but gives us viewpoints from all the different factions, a smart idea.

    I highly recommend this play.  If you do see it, please tell them Dennis sent you.

--DJS