Review: B Street Theatre's BROKE-OLOGY Reminds Us of Our Riches

The most shocking thing about getting older is that everyone else is getting older, too. Our parents, who once seemed so strong and commanding, reverse their roles and become the dependents. How do we care for them as they once cared for us? How do we find a balance between duty to them and staying true to ourselves? These are central themes explored in Nathan Louis Jackson's Broke-ology, now playing at the B Street Theatre.

Melvin Abston's William King is aging faster than his sons can make decisions. While his body is quitting, his mind is straddling separate realities. A desire to spend time with his two sons is being outweighed by his mental forays into the netherworld to visit his long-dead wife, Sonia (Brooklynn Solomon). His oldest son, Ennis (James Ellison, III), has borne the brunt of his caretaking and is looking forward to a respite with the arrival of his younger brother, Malcolm (Terence Sims). Malcolm, however, has tasted success and is reluctant to come back to the neighborhood that motivated him to get out. Over games of dominoes and escapades of lawn gnome pilfering, Ennis and Malcolm perform a dance of reckoning as they re-establish their relationship based on the very different adults they have become.

This cast is a veritable who's who of professional theatre. Directors Francois Battiste and Charles Anthony Burks bring experience from Broadway and television, with the former having performed in the Off-Broadway production of Broke-ology to rave reviews. Abston, who is one of only two black men to have performed the role of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman on Broadway, utilizes his impressive repertoire to bring a haunting and melancholy vulnerability to his role as William. By turns stubborn and feeble, Abston paints an accurate portrait of the nuances of aging. With his independence slipping from his grasp, he enchants every parent in the audience with his selfless insistence that Malcolm follow his own dreams despite the possible ramifications. His actions beg the question of how much sacrifice is a parent willing to make. The answer, of course, is anything necessary. Sims' Malcolm is unsure, wanting to be a dutiful son yet constantly pulled by ambition and a desire to change the world. Sims takes his time, the entire summer, in fact, deciding if familial loyalty supersedes personal aspiration. His calm and matter-of-fact demeanor is a skillful characterization of a role that is decidedly opposite that of Ellison's Ennis. Ellison is a study in contradictions who humanizes a character that might be considered prickly. He is an ambivalent father-to-be, not because he is a jerk, but because the responsibility for providing lies solely on his shoulders. Those shoulders are heavy with handling the burden of a dead-end job while juggling the role of caretaker for William. So what if he lets off steam having beers with "buddies?" The next day he'll be back at it, wearily anticipating the next phone call from Tammy or disaster from his father. Ellison tackles it all like he's experienced it first-hand, with a tired countenance that is constantly expecting the next blow. Of course, what they're all missing is a mother's touch, which we see in vignettes of Sonia. Solomon brings love and positivity to the soothing spectre of Sonia, who is sunshine in spirit form. We see this even when she is frustrated by the stagnancy of her life, for she is someone who makes lemonade out of lemons and converts husbands to chocolate milk lovers. She can even make death into something lovely, ethereal, and welcoming.

Ultimately, Broke-ology is a sensitive, stirring, and relatable look into a family that has to deal with the issues and emotions that come with growing up and growing old together. It thoughtfully examines the invisible threads that bind a family together and probes the myriad of complexities that exist when faced with impossible decisions. B Street has again produced a treasure that will leave you reflecting long after you leave the theatre - on family, ambition, life, death, and even chocolate milk.

Broke-ology plays at the B Street Theatre through June 4. Tickets may be found online at BStreetTheatre.org, by calling (916) 443-5300, or in person at the Box Office at 2700 Capitol Avenue in Sacramento.

Photo credit: Rudy Meyers

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