Teens From Nashville Justice System Take Stage As Actors

An unusual play will be performed Thursday night — for one night only — at TPAC in downtown Nashville. It’s based on the idea of helping troubled teens by getting them to share a stage with successful people.

In this case, the actors include a celebrity, an Oscar-winning writer, and some local officials known mostly for doling out justice.

The play, “Our House — A North Side Story,” is based on true stories of teens in trouble.

It follows the tale of a recent high school graduate, Lamark, who grapples with his upbringing on tough city streets and his freshmen year of college, where he’s headed on a basketball scholarship.

Corey Jenkins has the lead role. He’s a graduate of
the Oasis Center’s eight-week R.E.A.L. program for teens who’ve had a brush with the juvenile justice system. The play puts several alumni on stage and raises money for the program.

Local African-American leaders have volunteered for the one-night showing, including Eddie George. He starred as a Tennessee Titans running back. And as an actor,
he’ll soon debut on Broadway.

The kids will also perform with two people they don’t want to encounter in real life: Howard Gentry, the criminal court clerk, and juvenile court Judge Shelia Calloway.

More:
Limited tickets are available via TPAC.org.

In one scene, Calloway and Gentry — who plays a pastor — praise how Lamark’s mother raised him.

“She’s an inspiration for us all,” Gentry says.

“She’s too perfect. She must be hiding something,” Calloway begins, before dipping into one of the play’s four-letter words, which draws laughs. “Ah, I can’t lie. She’s an inspiration.”

“On that note, I’ll leave you,” Gentry says, “before the good Lord starts throwing lightning bolts around.”

Local doctor and R.E.A.L. program supporter Vince Morelli wrote the play. He enlisted an old friend to direct it: Bobby Moresco.

He’s
a Hollywood producer who co-wrote the film “Crash” and co-produced “Million Dollar Baby.” But his beginnings were in the rough Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan.

“I was one of those kids,” Moresco told WPLN. “You’re up against a world that can crush you — easily. And the arts were my way out.”

Moresco has put on several plays with teens. He wants them to feel worthy to speak their minds for an audience.

“Truly, in this case, the measure of success is these kids walk away with an experience that says, ‘I can do this,’ ” he says. “These kids are gonna know what it feels like to put their soul out there and look at everybody and publicly speak.”

In front of the group he’s just met, Moresco says no questions are off-limits. They share personal experiences that he wants them to think about as they act.

At one moment, he pushes Jenkins, who plays Lamark, to relate to the lines that Morelli wrote. In the play, the teen questions some of the collective wisdom he gleaned growing up.

“What you always hear on the streets: ‘Be hard or you ain’t a man.’ I don’t know if I really buy all that,” he says.

Moresco, who walks the crew through the rehearsal reading, tells the newcomers that there’s only one mistake they can make on stage.

“That’s to freeze up because you made a mistake,” he says. “Nobody will know … Fair enough?”

“Fair enough,” they agree.

The group gels over its challenge — to pull off the staged reading with four days preparation — and over the mission, to put teens in the spotlight for the good things they do.