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| Broke-ology, Francois Battiste, Wendell Pierce, Alano Miller. Photo by T Charles Erickson. |
It hangs on whether Malcolm King (an appealing Alano Miller), who has managed to get a masters degree in Connecticut, will give up chances of a good university teaching job under his mentor, an environmental professor, or will he stay home to care for his father William (a warm-spirited Wendell Pierce) who has muscular dystrophy.
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| Broke-ology-Francois Battiste, Wendell Pierce and Alano Miller. Photo by T Charles Erickson. |
Brother Ennis (a complex Francois Battiste) challenges him to make the sacrifice. Ennis, who is stuck in the working class, has his hands full with a wife and new baby which he must support with a restaurant job. Ennis jokes that he has developed the science of "broke-ology," the study of being broke. The play is as much an examination of the science – or art -- of being a family. That involves juggling loyalty to your family and loyalty to oneself.
Their mother Sonia (an effervescent Crystala Dickinson) died 15 years ago of cancer. She had given up her dreams of being an artist and leaving the neighborhood for "the arty part of town," to take care of her family. So will Malcolm give up his dreams? Will he stay in a neighborhood where the house still has bars on the doors and windows, or strike out for middle-class success?.
Some of the story is corny, as when William talks
to a stone gnome the boys have filched from a neighbor's yard.
And most of it is telegraphed. Still, there is definite charm
at work, and even as you figure out what will happen, the players
make you care about their characters.
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