PIPELINE by Dominique Morisseau (Soulpepper). Runs to May 8 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts (50 Tank House). $25-$98. soulpepper.ca. Rating: NNNN
The title of Dominique Morisseau’s 2017 play Pipeline comes from the theory that, for many students of colour, a metaphorical pipeline exists that shuttles them from school to prison – from the education system to the criminal justice system. Although that one-word title is never mentioned in the play – Morisseau is too artful a writer for that – it lingers over every minute of its tense, dramatic running time.
Omari (Tony Ofori), a Black student at a mostly white private school, has just done something that’s gotten him in trouble, and he’s in the dorm room of his girlfriend Jasmine (Chelsea Russell), who’s also Black, planning to flee before he gets expelled or even charged. Meanwhile, Omari’s mother, Nya (Akosua Amo-Adem), a teacher at an inner-city high school, is trying to contact her ex-husband and Omari’s father, Xavier (Kevin Hanchard), to see how they should handle the situation. And she desperately wants to find out where Omari’s gone.
Eventually, we learn some things: what exactly Omari did that got him in trouble; why Nya and Xavier sent him to private school rather than the public school where Nya teaches; and, in a very moving scene, what Omari himself wants out of life.
What Morisseau is so expert at doing, however, is presenting situations that pose questions with no easy answers. How, for instance, do you address the systemic racism in institutions like schools and the courts? How can you unpack the little micro-aggressions that people of colour face every day? How do you handle violent behaviour – something Nya’s seasoned colleague Laurie (Kristen Thomson) confronts in an absorbing subplot.
All of these things, and many more, contribute to forging that destructive pipeline.
Morisseau, whose acclaimed plays haven’t been produced here until now, is a major American writer, and this work is impeccably structured. She’s especially good at creating charged scenes between two characters, where unspoken judgements and buried resentments emerge. One of the best scenes features Nya and Jasmine: the latter calls out the former’s thinly veiled disapproval of her. And at times, especially in the character of Laurie, Morisseau is very funny – look for the hilarious critique of inner-city school saviour stories like Dangerous Minds.
Morisseau also suggests a lot about Nya and Xavier’s history in very few words. And one of her most pointed scenes involves Xavier, Omari and Dun (Mazin Elsadig), a security guard at Nya’s school, where we glimpse three different perspectives on Black masculinity.
Director Weyni Mengesha’s production moves swiftly and economically. A turntable allows the pieces in Lorenzo Savoini’s set to change with a minimum of fuss, and Mengesha uses the transitions between scenes – both in Savoini’s projections and Lyon Smith’s sound design – to suggest the life around the play: teens walking in school hallways, trains speeding by. At one point Nya discusses a Gwendolyn Brooks poem, and lines from that poem echo through the rest of the show.
The cast is excellent. Ofori effectively captures Omari’s frustration and confusion, while Russell brings a liveliness and snap to every one of Jasmine’s lines. Thomson’s Laurie exudes a jaded survivor attitude that’s appealing, her prejudices coming out under pressure, while Elsadig absolutely nails his monologue about his thankless working-class job. (Among other things, Morisseau’s play is a fascinating look at work and class.)
It’s Nya who is at the centre of the play, however. Of all the characters, she knows most of all how the system is flawed, and she’s forced to examine her own role in how things have played out. Amo-Adem brings a complexity and emotional depth to her that is painfully real and cathartic to watch.
