Kaatje Welsh and Curtiss Cook Jr.

Lena is angry and bereft since her grandson has been a random victim. The script begins with: "Do not begin with me, Do not start your telling with me, Trust me, It ain't the way you want this story to begin ... ." Thus, this play opens when Tray is already dead, and Lee moves the action, in spurts, backward and forward in time. His character is clear: Tray was soon going to college and preparing his essay to apply for scholarship. He did not wish to remain in the urban ghetto.

Scott Bradley brings us to locations in Brownsville and East Flatbush in the borough of Brooklyn. Greenish iron grating hovers above. The apartment kitchen's stove and sink are cluttered; there is a round table with three chairs. Ryan Rumery's sound design is proactive as we hear train rumblings and feel vibrations.

Not a gang participant, Tray is preparing for upcoming Golden Gloves boxing and he works at Starbucks, too. His stepmother Merrell (Sung Yun Cho) long ago abandoned Tray and his little, delightful sister Devine (Kaatje Welsh). Merrill was addicted to alcohol and more. Tray fills a void now as a surrogate parent. Merrill, in an intriguing turn, is to be Tray's tutor, yet Merrill is late for a meeting with him. Later, Merrill applies for a position at Starbucks and, in role reversal, he mentors her.

The production includes some enduring moments and none is more graceful, imaginative, or sweet than Devine (outfitted by costumer Toni-Leslie James as, in part, a tree) and Tray performing a hip-hop rendering of "The Swan" from Swan Lake.

Junior (Anthony Martinez-Briggs) was present when Tray was killed. The scene between Junior and Lena late in the play is both piercing and formative. Junior explains, "Tray just caught in the mess ... Tray seen the trouble comin'."

Kimber Lee's dialogue is pitch perfect, the strength of her work. From the moment brownsville song opens, the story is aggressive, cutting, and real—through its fine text. There also isn't any question, sadly, that those attending will immediately recognize the situation and those involved. Good, bad, or in-between, that is truth.

Catrina Ganey, as Lena, commands attention with her first word, and the actress is able to demonstrate her versatility later on during comic and emotive sequences. As Tray, Curtiss Cook Jr. is amiable, responsible, and actually hopeful. His enthusiastic affection for Devine is genuine and sweet. Kaatje Welsh, playing the girl, is tenderly magnetic. Martinez-Briggs, double cast as Junior and a Brooklyn College student, is most effective. Sung Yun Cho is not consistently credible in the quite difficult role of Merrell. She is undeniably caught, having shirked her responsibilities more than once, yet she cares. Perhaps the actress is trying for nuance. This demanding part requires her to shift from teacher to learner, all the while battling with her inner complexities.

Tray, a good person, has major dreams and they are squashed in one instant of violence. The playwright's pertinent and contemporary theme reverberates within city projects and elsewhere in our country. Tray's concluding words include: "My name is Tramaine Berry Thompson. I am eighteen years old. I am writing my own story. This is the beginning ... whassuuuuup."

brownsville song (b-side for tray) continues at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven through April 26th, 2015. For tickets, call (203) 787-4282 or visit www.longwharf.org.

Photo: T Charles Erickson

- Fred Sokol