A gripping drama of race relations, American Son exposes prejudices that spawn mortal problems of communication among black and white people in an important spectrum of society. When an 18-year-old goes missing, there’s more at stake than finding him. In a bleak waiting room of a Miami police station, with a huge curved window showing thunderous outside rain, Kendra Ellis-Connor (handsome, tailored, African American Almeria Campbell) anxiously attempts many times to get son Jamal on his cell phone. He’s been away and atypically not answering for so many hours that she’s also checked on his whereabouts with his friends, hospitals, and now the police. Officer Paul Larkin (Daniel Petzoid, great as a consummate Rookie) riles Kendra as he follows the only investigative procedure he knows. She feels she knows he’s prejudiced by the (proscribed) questions he asks. Emphasizing her educational (Ph.D. in psychology) and socioeconomic status (University teaching and possessions), as well as her son’s accomplishments, she makes clear she believes Larkin assumes Jamal was involved in something shady. He hopes to calm her by assuring that Lt. Stokes is due to arrive with pertinent information. F. B. I. official Scott Connor (Rod Brogan, acting rightly sensible though opinionated) comes to be helpful. He tries to calm his estranged wife (for whom he obviously still cares) and asks both her and Larkin pertinent questions. The officer does tell him of the latest he’s learned about Jamal: he was with two other boys in an auto stopped by police and an incident—inflamed by an anti-cop bumper sticker—followed. Lt. Stokes will have to reveal all that happened. Meanwhile, the couple have shared affectionate moments recalling their earlier love and happiness at having their son. But it’s obvious each raised Jamal (called Jay by his dad) differently, had different expectations of him. (She’s for conduct and dress emphasizing his African-American side; Scott’s proudest of him being due to enter West Point). Can they close the gap between them for Jamal’s sake? Kendra seems to be perpetually aware of race and to blame whites. It’s a mark of Kate Alexander’s even direction that the characters’ flaws (and the actors’ performances) are shown as not completely one-sided. Lawrence Evans’s Lt. Stokes brings a powerful, needed equilibrium onstage and to the plot. Once again, FST highlights the important problem of racism in America. The play presents a number of contradictions (like Kendra’s poor psychology in dealing with the rookie policeman), but the ending suggests that a greater harmony can be brought about. It won’t be easy but it will require almost everyone—like the characters in American Son—doing some changing.
