‘Stand Your Ground’ Takes Hold On Law &
Outcome
By Marcus Ma’at Atkins
Photos by Ma'atology
As the world awaits the verdict from the now
infamous tragedy of teen Trayvon Martin being slain by neighborhood watcher George
Zimmerman, a stageplay that was recently staged at the Grandel Square Theatre
has pulled straight from the context of that incident with the topical title, “Stand Your Ground.”
Directed by East St Louis native
actor/director Joel P.E. King, “Stand Your Ground:, which had its encore
performances last weekend, played up more like a fictionalized account of a
foreshadowing of a NOT GUILTY verdict on a stand your ground case involving
the death a young black teen and a white neighborhood watch member and how the
community reacts from it.
The cast of 'Stand Your Ground' taking a bow.
This ensemble cast’s pivotal characters
evolve around an interracial married couple (played excellently by Ptosha Storey and
Eric Nelson) and how and their lives (as well as their community) are unraveled
when one of their sons is murdered by a racist neighborhood watcher.
Part didactic, “Stand Your Ground” is social commentary about the current state between the
races. Although some of the scenes
seemed a bit fillerish (e.g. the husband and the wife's sister scene), its relative
in regards to the timely social bubble of the play. It also was refreshing to hear the backstory of
the killer to give the character more of a redemptive quality when it came to
his reason for killing which is rare in stories about a villainous and deeply hated character.
There was also comic relief within the play with the interracial couple's ample, Jamaican accented, karate-toting housekeeper (played by Black Pearl) that, although didn't carry much to the storyline, was definitely needed to help offset the heaviness of the play.
The director of 'Stand Your Ground', Joel P.E. King (fourth from left) addressing the crowd.
“Stand Your Ground” not only gave discourse
on the topic of self defense and vigilantism, but it also quantified other issues and such as commentary on miscegenation,
corporal punishment and rape. King has staged a hard pill of reality to swallow, but after seeing it, conversation and discussion on the controversial law was increased tenfold on the possibilities of a NOT GUILTY verdict with the Martin/Zimmeran case.
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