*Courtney Marie (L) and Shane Novoa Rhoades in American Son at Ghostlight Ensemble. (Photo by Maria Burnham/For Ghostlight Ensemble)*

Ghostlight Ensemble’s production of American Son, written by Christopher Demos-Brown and directed by Ebby Offord, continues this week with the first of five shows (including an understudy performance) beginning tomorrow.

Audiences and reviewers have felt the visceral impact of this timely story with the location, layered acting and strong direction driving home the reality of this drama.

“This play is fantastic, yet is a hard watch. It will make you feel confronted — which good theatre should do. Yes, sometimes theatre needs to be fun and give joy — and sometimes it needs to portray the harsh reality of our world.” — Lisa with TheatreinChicago

American Son is a story about an estranged couple desperately seeking answers to the whereabouts of their teenage son, who has gone missing after an encounter with the police. As Kendra, a Black mother, and Scott, her white husband, wait for information, their clashing perspectives expose deep-seated issues of race, privilege and systemic bias.

“Ghostlight Ensemble’s production and the setting highlight the sad ongoing relevance of American Son for too many Black parents and their children, who battle microaggressions daily and hope they don’t escalate to something even worse, with no clear answers provided by the people sworn to serve and protect.” — Kerry Reid, The Chicago Reader.

The production is led by Ensemble Member Courtney Marie as Kendra and Ensemble Member Khnemu Menu-Ra as Lt. Stokes with Shane Novoa Rhoades as Scott and Derek Preston Ray as Officer Paul Larkin. Understudies are Terah Jené, Eric K. Roberts, Kyle Roth and Ryan Ken.

Performances take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 24; Friday, September 25 and Saturday, September 26 and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 27. There is an understudy performance at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, September 28. The show runs through October 4 at Friendship Community Place (5150 N Northwest Highway, Chicago, IL 60630).

Tickets are pay-what-you-will and are available now.

American Son is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com.

Block Club Chicago recently covered our leadership change and plans for the upcoming season.

Learn more about our new Co-Artistic Director Kayla V. White and the company’s plans for the future in that piece.

“I’m really excited about centering newer Black and Brown playwrights, particularly Chicago-based ones, for the upcoming season and helping them shape their piece and create something new,” White said. “That’s so exciting to me.”
White said the company also will have a reading series highlighting “lost plays” from female writers of color, with an emphasis on works from Black women.
“A lot of people tend to do the same shows. Chicago does mix it up but often it’s a retelling the same types of stories,” White said. “So this series will have a special emphasis on people of color to go back and explore a lot of different plays that are available to us. They exist, but people just aren’t really using them.”

Review: 'American Son is a story many of us need to see and experience'

Read more: Ghostlight 'Aims To Bring Voices Of Black Women, People Of Color To The Forefront'