If Lee\u2019s name sounds familiar, it should. She has San Diego connections and she is on the rise. In 2007 she was appointed associate artistic director of Mo\u2019olelo. Prior to her time in residence, Mo\u2019olelo produced her play \u201cThe Squirrel Wife\u201d and commissioned her to write another, \u201cThe Adoption Project: Triad,\u201d which was produced at Centro Cultural de la Raza, directed by then Mo\u2019olelo Artistic Director Seema Sueko.<\/p>\n Apparently, Lee left San Diego to pursue her master\u2019s degree at the University of Texas, Austin. She is currently based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was the 2014-15 Aetna New Voices Fellow at Hartford Stage. Her play \u201ctokyo fish story\u201d will be produced at The Old Globe\u2019s Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in May and June.<\/p>\n Having noted Lee\u2019s rise as a playwright, let it be said that \u201cbrownsville song (b-side for Tray)\u201d does not disappoint. It is an excellent choice, unusually timely and affecting, and utilizes some of the area\u2019s best actors of color, notably Cortez L. Johnson (\u201cHonky\u201d at San Diego Rep), Alex Robinson (who does a fine job of portraying two young black men, eighth-grader Zo\u00eb Sonnenberg (\u201cEuridice\u201d at Moxie) and Sylvia M\u2019Lafi Thompson (\u201cCell\u201d at Mo\u2019olelo and \u201c\u2019night Mother\u201d at ion). The much-admired veteran San Diego actor Jyl Kaneshiro (\u201cPrecious Little\u201d at InnerMission) completes the company.<\/p>\n Johnson portrays the title character, Tray, a beloved 18-year-old from the impoverished Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. We know from the get-go that he\u2019s been killed (we learn the details later) because the play\u2019s opening speech comes from the mouth of his grandmother, Lena (Thompson), who has raised him and his younger sister Devine (Zo\u00eb Sonnenberg) since their father was killed in the streets and their mother, Merrell (Kaneshiro), lost custody due to drug addiction. Tray and Devine, who have a playful, close and supportive relationship, have not seen their mother in many years.<\/p>\n To our amazement, Thompson mines the depth of feeling surging right under Lena\u2019s skin. This is accomplished without \u201cemoting.\u201d She simply and forcefully intimates the woman\u2019s goodness, power, wisdom and devastation.<\/p>\n Tray is not perfect, but he is on the path to turning his life around, and has applied for a scholarship to an Ivy League university. In the process of writing his obligatory entrance essay, he is assigned to work with Merrell, who has exacting standards despite their relationship and the fact she would like to make amends to Devine and Lena.<\/p>\n![\"Zoe](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Zoe-Sonnenberg-and-Cortez-L.-Johnson.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Sylvia](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Sylvia-M\u2019Lafi-Thompson_1-300x200.jpg\")
![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Alex-Robinson-and-Sylvia-M\u2019Lafi-Thompson-187x300.jpg\")
![\"Screen](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Screen-Shot-2016-02-12-at-8.37.46-AM-220x300.png\")
<\/a>Fear of abandonment runs through the script, which is well-constructed and truly well-played and directed.<\/p>\n