'The Gospel Of Lovingkindness' A Timely, Moving Call To Action

By Melody Udell in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 17, 2014 3:00PM

'The Gospel of Lovingkindness' at Victory Gardens Theater. Photo by Michael Courier.

Playwright Marcus Gardley, a transplant from Oakland, Calif., is all too familiar with the toll that senseless violence takes on a community, on families and on those simply yearning to make their way. Gardley's sobering new play, The Gospel of Lovingkindness, was inspired by the unrelenting gang violence in Chicago—a heartfelt, probing reaction to the recent headlines.

While the play, set in Bronzeville, may not deliver an antidote to crime-inflicted street corners, it does provide a salve of sorts to start healing the long-sustained wounds of a community.

We first encounter Mary (a formidable Cheryl Lynn Bruce) alone in her South Side apartment. In an interesting choice by set director Kevin Depinet, once-familiar, everyday possessions—tables, chairs, bureau drawers—suspend like long-forgotten relics above the stage.

Mary doesn’t notice them. She doesn’t notice anything, actually. She’s lost in her grief for her son, Emmanuel (Tosin Morohunfola), who was recently gunned down on the street—a literal walking target thanks to his $200 Nike high-tops. But the gunman took more than just Emmanuel’s shoes—he took Mary’s only son, the one she worked tirelessly to raise by herself. And Emmanuel, who had recently returned from a trip to the White House to sing with his school’s choral group, was making her proud.

After awakening from her nearly catatonic state of grief, Mary starts to rally for gun control and measurable actions to reduce gang violence. In the meantime, the play shifts toward another story—to that of the gunman's. As Gardley shows us, Chicago didn’t just lose one youth the day Emmanuel was shot: It lost two.

The gunner, Noel, is also played by the extremely adept Tosin Morohunfola—an impactful decision by director Chay Yew. Noel feels backed into a corner: He’s not good enough to play pro basketball, doesn’t have the grades for college and feels cheated by his low-paying job.

On top of that, Noel just became a teen father. He and his mom, Martha, (Jacqueline Williams) shared high hopes that he would get out of the neighborhood. But now, Noel finds himself in just the kind of situation that leads too many misguided youths toward gang-related drug peddling. As we watch Noel make all the wrong choices, Lovingkindess sheds light on the lesser-shown form of gang violence that results from ill-made decisions and poorly handled emotions—not the mindless murder that seems to characterize most street crimes.

According to Gardley, it seems the real victims here are the mothers: Mary should be enjoying her retirement and remembering the happy times with her Emmanuel. Instead, she’s pulling all-nighters as an activist to eradicate the violence that took her son.

Similarly, that same violence has also taken Martha’s son. She struggles to comprehend Noel’s unthinkable crime, and yet she can’t bring herself to sacrifice her only son to a lifetime in jail.

While there are only four actors, each playing multiple roles in the production, each one connects effortlessly to Gardley’s words. The show weighs heavily on the heart. Lovingkindess leaves us with something we could use a little more of when we’re witnessing the damage done by senseless turf wars or illegal gun sales in Chicago; hope.

The show runs through Sunday, March 30 at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., 773-871-3000 or online.