Are you ready to play ball?
The talented Black female high school basketball players in Candrice Jones’s “Flex” certainly are. And so are the actors in the show who, besides learning their lines and character arcs, also need to know how to dribble, pass, layup and dunk with enough skill that audiences believe they’re capable of competing for the state championship — and beyond.
“Flex,” a co-production between Crow’s Theatre and Obsidian, focuses on “Lady Train,” a squad of 17-year-old players, and their coach in the fictional town of Plainnole, Arkansas.
It’s 1997, a year after the formation of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and a couple of players are dreaming of going pro. But they’re also dealing with issues off the court — things like unwanted pregnancy — that could remove them from the game and alter their lives forever.
“I love learning new skills for a role,” said actor Shauna Thompson, who plays Starra, the team’s swaggering point guard. “If a role requires me to learn a new instrument, or strap in a harness and fly across the room, I’m in.”
Thompson, who’s starred in acclaimed shows like “Prodigal” and “Bad Roads,” hadn’t played b-ball since being on her elementary school team. But she’s loved improving her game through daily drills and practices.
“With more traditional shows, you get into the rhythm of doing things a certain way,” she said. “In this play, some dialogue changes if you make a shot or not. That really keeps you on your toes.”
Jasmine Case, who won a Dora Award for her performance in “Truth” and starred in last season’s brilliant “Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner,” plays Sidney, a star shooting guard who’s currently being scouted by colleges. Case grew up playing the sport; her middle name is “Jordan” and her brother plays college basketball in the U.S.
“When I first read the script I wondered how we were going to be able to play ball and say our lines at the same time,” she said. “We all went into this with the idea that it was going to be difficult, but we’ve pushed ourselves to be ahead of the ball. We all know what we’re going through individually and we’re incredibly supportive of one another.”
A lot of that camaraderie has come from director Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu and Alex Dean Johnson, the latter a former Team Canada player who’s acting as the show’s basketball coach.
Even before rehearsals began, the two put the acting ensemble through a basketball boot camp, where they broke down and practised all the specific plays in the script. Each rehearsal day begins with a solid hour of drills.
Johnson, who’s coached girls teams at Royal Crown, a Toronto school famous for their award-winning basketball program, says the play believably captures the way young women interact with each other on and off the court.
“With males, the attitude is more, ‘C’mon let’s go!’ It’s all rah rah rah,” he said, mimicking a macho swagger. “With females, it’s more, ‘We’re gonna get it done, there’s nothing to panic about, we have a lot of time.’ It’s more about emotional connections, knowing that everyone is there for them.”
The title, Otu explains, refers to an offensive play in which players must pass the ball to each other a certain number of times.
“Instead of the point guard taking the ball and being a star,” she said, “it requires the players to work as a team.”
That’s a pretty decent metaphor for making theatre, too. You can have lead performances, but a show won’t succeed if the ensemble doesn’t work together.
“It’s all about the group,” said Case. “Theatre is about ensembles and sports is about teams. A really good ensemble allows everyone to shine. It’s not just about one person having a big moment. It’s about individual moments coming together to make something bigger and better.”
After the show was announced, news broke that Toronto will be getting its own WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo, with tennis legend Serena Williams having a stake as a co-owner. The creative team is excited about that, as well as the fact that this play will draw sports-loving audiences who might not frequent theatre.
“A lot of my brother’s friends have never seen a play and a lot of my theatre friends have never been to a basketball game,” said Case. “And I think this is a perfect marriage of the two. People don’t think there’s a lot of emotion or drama in basketball, but it’s the most emotional thing I’ve witnessed outside the stage.”
Thompson, for her part, gets excited whenever new people see theatre, especially if their only association with the art form comes from bad high school productions.
“I’ve had so many people tell me after seeing shows that they had no idea theatre could be exciting, or engaging or provocative,” she said. “And it’s especially exciting to me to get people of colour to the theatre. We’re still working on building that culture within our own communities.”
And while the play is set in the American South, director Otu says anyone in the GTA will relate to it.
“This could just as easily be Scarborough or Rexdale,” she said. “Any neighbourhood where a young Black girl could look at the Toronto Tempo as a way to go all the way.”
“Flex” runs from Tuesday until May 18 at Streetcar Crowsnest’s Guloien Theatre, 345 Carlaw Ave. Visit crowstheatre.com for tickets and more information.
