“The Kernel of Truth”
“The Kernel of Truth”
By Katie Mulligan
Exuberant audiences cheered the premiere performances of “The Kernel of Truth” at the Overture Center on Father’s Day weekend. Billed as a story of redemption from behind bars, the play presents the stories of men imprisoned in a county jail and shows how they come to understand the complexities of the criminal justice system and eventually realize their own power in building new lives and transforming their communities.
Each man steps forward to speak directly to the audience. One of the most haunting stories is of a man who is incarcerated for running over a young girl. He is tormented by the accident and the resulting separation from his own daughter. Other men speak about the power of drug addiction and how they came to sell drugs as their only means of providing support to their families. The yearning for a nurturing family life is a constant theme throughout the play.
Staging in the Capitol Theater was particularly effective in bringing these stories to life. The play opened with a spotlight on a single female figure, the warden, who said she was “the judge and jury” of everything that happened in her jail. As the action progressed and each man addressed the audience, relevant statistics about racism and other social issues flashed on large screens on either side of the stage. At other times, the entire stage was dark, except for two characters in dialogue at one end. The stage was fully lit to highlight a dramatic fight among all the inmates.
Clearly, the play struck a chord with the attendees. In fact, the interaction between actor and audience was reminiscent of call and response in a church. “Yes, yes, that’s the way it is!” they would yell at particularly poignant moments in an actor’s monologue. Sustained cheers and knowing cries of support followed this comment, in particular: “You don’t have to have a lot of money to keep your kids happy. You just have to be there.”