From the moment we sit down at the intimate Hayes Theater, it’s clear that we’re in for a family drama, an emotional reckoning that will no doubt contrast with the perfect décor: a richly appointed coral-colored great room, dominated by a curving staircase up to the second floor. Upstage right is a picture window through which we will see the snowstorm that will lock all the characters in place for 24 hours.
The portraits of Martin Luther King and other Black icons hanging from the walls and the tastefully chosen African art scattered throughout ground us in a home of Black wealth and power. And most obviously, a dining table downstage right promises to give us that staple of the grand family play: an explosive confrontation over dinner that will end the first act with a bang.
This is the Chicago home of the Jasper family: aging civil rights icon Solomon Jasper and his lawyer wife Claudine. They are celebrating both Claudine’s birthday and the release from prison of son Junior, a politician convicted of embezzling campaign funds. Younger son Naz has come back for the celebration. Junior’s angry wife Morgan is also there—when she is not sulking in her room. And Aziza, a friend of Naz’s, shows up unexpectedly to stir the family soup.
