Ensemble Theatre Set to Stage Charles Smith's "Jelly Belly"

One of the earliest plays of renowned playwright Charles Smith will get its regional premier at Ensemble Theatre this month when the Cleveland Heights theatre opens “Jelly Belly” February 9 in their Mainstage Theatre.

In the play, Cleveland actor Lashawn Little plays Mike who finds himself at a crossroads in his life after being passed over for a promotion at his construction job. Frequent Ensemble collaborator Greg White (“Thurgood,” “Death of a Salesman”) plays Jelly Belly, just released from prison and looking to get the gang back together.

Originally produced with Chicago’s Victory Gardens in 1990, the play comes from a real-life meeting Smith had with a local gangster named Jelly Belly in Chicago. “What shocked me was not that Jelly Belly had very calmly and openly admitted

been his friends,” Smith writes in the opening to his play. “What shocked me was the fact that each time he had been convicted o f murder, he had spent no more than six months in jail."

Taking place in one night on the front stoop of Mike and Barbara’s (Mary Francis Miller) house, the play follows Mike’s struggles with staying on the straight and narrow all while being confronted by Jelly Belly, a man nearly everyone is afraid of for one reason or another.

“I think people will be surprised by the depth of this script,” director Ian Wolfgang Hinz said of the play. “It really deals with the African-American experience in their neighborhoods, and in places where there are economic issues and issues with finding jobs. It’s about kings & queens and territory & power, and how those components interact with each other. I think it’s different than any other play you’re going to see in Cleveland this season.”

“Jelly Belly” is just one of many collaborations between the playwright Charles Smith and Ensemble Theatre over the years. Executive Artistic Director Celeste Cosentino and Hinz are both former students of Smith who is the Head of the Professional Playwriting Program at Ohio University. Recent Smith productions at Ensemble include “Gospel According to James,” “Knock Me a Kiss,” and “A Free Man of Color.”

“Jelly Belly” opens February 9 and runs through February 25 with performances on Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm at Ensemble Theatre, 2843 Washington Blvd.

For tickets and information, call 216.321.2930, email info@ensemble-theatre.org or visit www.EnsembleTheatreCLE.org