Tag Archives: Edwin Green

Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem

On Demand, Play October 25, 2025 Leave a comment

In June of 1943, Malcolm Little and John Elroy Sanford crossed paths as dishwashers in the same Harlem fried chicken joint.  At ages 19 and 20 respectively, they were still finding their footing as Black men at a time when they were encouraged to give their lives for the country, but not being given societal or economic opportunity.  His father having died early and his mother hospitalized after a breakdown, Little was a petty criminal, frustrated to keep finding himself on that path.  Foxy was an aspiring comic who already handled his finances so poorly he was living on a rooftop.  The engaging Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem opens an imaginative window into the relationship between these two men long before fame found them.  

Though familiarity with the raunchy comedian and the inspirational Muslim leader is helpful, at heart Jonathan Norton — who won the American Theatre Critics/Journalists’ M. Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award  for Mississippi Godddamn — has here written a thoughtful exploration of friendship.  Though Foxy and Little share concerns, they have divergent approaches for overcoming them.  By turns, they build each other up and tear each other down, eventually bringing out something special in one another that perhaps no one else would unearth.  Always running in the background is the pre-civil-rights society that literally and metaphorically deprives the two of the music in life.  

Squat and expressive, with an ability to swing from insecurity to dominance, Trey Smith-Mills plays Foxy.  The long and suave Edwin Green — who has been with the production since its 2024 Off-Broadway reading — makes a terrific counterpart as Little.  Director Dexter J. Singleton heightens the required physicality and timing in both performances.

Trey Smith-Mills and Edwin Green as Foxy and Little; Photo by Wesley Hitt

Costume designer Claudia Brownlee provides the right style-on-a budget wardrobe, particularly with a red and white suit and outrageous hat for Foxy.  Jennifer McClory’s wigs mimic the chemically treated reddish hair that was popular in that period.  The shabby back-kitchen set with its stained walls and gurgling drain is designed by Kimberly Powers.  Blackouts and hot spots (lighting by Levi J. Wilkins) along with jazz standards and order-up bells (sound by Howard Patterson) work cleverly together to illustrate the passage of long summer days.

Malcolm X & Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem is a captivating two hander about people you think you know in an era you think you understand.  Above all, it is the evolution of a friendship that reverberated throughout two meaningful lives.  This World Premiere was commissioned by TheatreSquared, and is a co-production of T2, City Theatre Company, Virginia Stage Company and Dallas Theater Center.  The run has been extended until November 2nd.  Live performances take place at Spring Theatre (477 W. Spring St., Fayetteville, AR).  The streaming version is shot casually (odd angles, heads in the way, uneven audio) but is a wonderful option for those with mobility or childcare issues and those of us who live at too great a distance from the the venue.  Content is for mature audiences, with simulated drug use and adult language.  Runtime is an hour and forty minutes with no intermission.  Both live tickets ($$25-$71) and streaming tickets ($25-$35) are available at theatre2.org/jimmys-chicken or by calling (479) 777-7477.

Responders

Play, streaming June 22, 2024 Leave a comment

As Tucker’s mother sees it, everything happens at the same time: the good, the bad, and the random.  That paradigm is evident in Responders, Joseph Scott Ford’s new play currently running at Arkansas’s TheatreSquared. The good, is the apparent affection the characters hold for one another, even the squabbling exes Daryl and Suzie. The bad is the suicide paramedic Daryl and his newly minted partner Ang have found hanging from a billboard near the highway.  The police who should be first responders are running late because of a flat tire.  The school buses will soon be driving by and Ang — deeply concerned about the impact the gruesome sight will have on the town’s young children — is considering bending the rules and disturbing the scene.  But Suzie, an ambitious local news reporter, needs a big story. She would rather capture every traumatized face with her loyal cameraman, Tucker.  The random will not be spoiled here except to say it completes Ford’s exploration of mental distress through a droll and compassionate lens.  

An Arkansas native, Ford applies a distinctive perspective to rural middle American life that is simultaneously loving and probative. This Oklahoma town is so small that the Uber service is simply “Sandra.”  The contained setting promotes both the closeness and the friction that makes the action and the dialogue click.  The banter is relaxed and humorous even when the situation clearly isn’t.

Director vickie washington, who collaborated with Ford when the piece was being developed at T2’s 2022 Arkansas New Play Festival, returns to the helm.  She leverages the obvious comfort between her cast members, all of whom appeared in previous incarnations of the work.  From the outset, the body remains mostly obscured by a stark and dusty roadside set designed by Sydney Lynne, chillingly a prop more than a person.  The victim’s suit jacket and polished shoes (props by Brodie Jasch) sadly hang on fencing nearby.  Kelsey Claire’s plain-speaking Ang and Bradley Campbell’s world-weary Daryl arrive with the gurney through an aisle between the two perpendicular audience sections, immediately drawing everyone into the action.  The two actors play warmly together and each one is given an intimate scene with Edwin Green’s recently returned veteran Tucker.  The conversation between Daryl and Tucker, built on the awareness that their jobs have warped their senses of humor, is particularly moving.  Though her dialogue also offers glimpses of a tender side, Miranda Jane remains too shrill and edgy to give Suzie the balance that is evident in Ford’s script.  Costume designer Jennifer McClory has taken care to ensure her character literally stands out in fuchsia against the uniforms and earth tones of the others, so this further push is unnecessary.  Levi J. Wilkins’s lighting offers gentle shading where it’s needed.

Bradley Campbell and Kelsey Claire in Joseph Scott Ford’s Responders.
Photo credit: TheatreSquared

By blending clever repartee with straightforward talk, Responders finds the sweet spot between entertainment and message.  It is a true homegrown product marking the fourth co-production of the Fayetteville, Arkansas based TheatreSquared and Arkansas Repertory in Little Rock.  Running time is an hour and 15 minutes with no intermission.  This World Premiere continue through June 30 at the Spring Theatre on 477 W. Spring Street in downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas. Tickets are $43-$68.  Digital tickets are available through T2 at Home for just $25.  Though the audio is slightly muffled and best experienced with headphones, it’s a nice option if you are unable to get to a live performance.  Visit https://www.theatre2.org/ for more information and to purchase tickets.