Lewis Morrow and Karis Harrington in Jawbone Crack Quick (KCMPT)
In addition to its thoughtful productions of established works by African American playwrights, Melting Pot Theatre regularly mounts world premieres of new plays. Lewis Morrow’s Jawbone Crack Quick, directed by Ile Haggins, is the latest new play to be debuted by the company.
In Jawbone Crack Quick, a couple struggles in the aftermath of a traumatic, violent break-in in their home. Walt (played by Morrow) and Sandrin (Aalayah Norwood) are reeling from their physical and emotional injuries and to make things worse, they’ve chosen to renovate the bottom level of their house, essentially confining them both to their bedroom. From the start of the play, the energy between them is stretched tight, ready to break.
Over the course of the play, secrets about the encounter and about Walt’s past are unearthed but it’s that tension that drives the play more than the actual plot. In fact, it’s about 30 minutes into the play before we even learn what it’s actually about, and even longer before we get any new information to move the story forward. Morrow has shown his skill previously in presenting compelling contentious relationships onstage. His 2022 drama Begetters was also about a couple lashing out at each other following a personal tragedy. But centering a play on two characters’ failure to connect is always a gamble, and it’s draining to watch these characters snipe at each other with little respite.
At nearly two and a half hours, the play is seriously overwritten. The bulk of the first act is little more than watching these two characters bicker and talk past each other. Much of the second act is rehashing information we learned in the first. It is tiring to watch and the attempts at a cathartic payoff late in the play fall short of making the rest worth the investment.
There are moments in Jawbone Crack Quick that land. A singular moment of genuine connection between Walt and Sandrin; a subdued face-off between Sandrin and an enigmatic detective (Karis Harrington); watching characters physically traverse between memories and the present reality. These moments are beautiful and effective in their simplicity but unfortunately out of place in the play as a whole.
“Jawbone Crack Quick,” a production of KC Melting Pot, runs through December 14 at the Just Off Broadway Theatre, 3051 Central. For more information, call 816-226-8087 or go to www.kcmeltingpot.com.
