By John Lyle Belden

“Southern trees bear strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root…”

These lyrics, written by a white activist and made famous by legendary Black singer Billie Holiday, lend a theme to a drama by acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau, “Blood at the Root,” presented by Indianapolis Black Theater Company at The District Theatre, directed by Daniel A. Martin.

The plot is heavily based on the 2006 “Jena 6” controversy in which six Black high school students were tried as adults after arrests for beating a White student. The altercation was part of a series of events that suggested racial tensions were a factor. Morisseau’s play is set at Cedar High in a fictional Louisiana town standing in for Jena, a city of around 3,000 located in the Mississippi River Delta region north of Baton Rouge.

Raelynn (Kelly Kel) wants to do something bold for her senior year. With the encouragement of her best friend Asha (Morgan Damato), she decides to run for class president, which if successful would make her the first Black student in the office. She also decides to go sit under Old Devoted, a huge old oak tree where the “cliques” (“White” is unsaid but understood) hang out. Two other students join her.  

At the student newspaper, reporter Toria (Samantha Resnick) is constantly in trouble for seeking controversial topics – adding her opinions in the process – in her zeal to become a “real journalist.” Justin (Matt Ball), the student editor, sees her as talented but her work as unusable, risking the school ending the program.

Raelynn’s brother, Deondre (Marcus Elliott), is a star running back on the football team and a college prospect. The quarterback is Collin (Parker Taylor), a recent transfer student who is White – and gay, a secret that proves difficult to keep.

The next morning, three rope nooses hang from the oak tree. Black students are upset, but the school insists that it is no more than a tasteless prank. Days later, in the high school cafeteria, Collin is beaten by six of his Black teammates, including Deondre. Arrests follow.

The cast also includes Clarissa Michelle, Jay Fuqua, and Evangeline Bouw.

The mighty tree, designed and built by The Sapphire Theatre Company, dominates the back of the stage, a reminder that the emotions and dark legacy of the Civil Rights era were not left behind in the 20^th century. Students coming of age in the 21^st now have to reckon with this, finding that what once seemed like normal teenage trouble can take on serious consequences, especially in the Deep South. Reflecting today’s culture that is surrounded by music, the play includes moments of song and movement reflecting a scene’s actions and feelings. It avoids classification as a musical, though, so that nothing shown seems light or trivial.

Every character is boldly presented, and each will have their say. Kel’s Raelynn and Elliott’s Deondre present familiar archetypes, a young Black woman and man seeing possibility in their future while dealing with opposing tensions brought about by just being themselves. In Deondre’s case, what would be no more than a blemish in another student’s record becoming his entire future denied by the decision of an unjust system. Demato’s Asha, a girl with White skin and Black relationships, and Ball’s Justin, a Black student bullied by peers for reading and good grades, express their frustrations at social expectations and rules around “blackness.” An idealist from a politically liberal family, Resnick’s Toria is learning the hard way to carefully deal with the facts, and her tact. Parker’s Collin shows how the (also valid) struggles of queerness further complicate existing tensions.

We get outstanding performances all around. Especially of note is the way the actors handle the rural Louisiana accent and way of speaking – akin to both Cajun and Deep South syntax and cadence – flowing naturally, clear and easy to follow.

Presented with the energy and humor of youth, as well as the raw emotion of hard-hitting news, we find that bitterness still comes from a society with “Blood at the Root.” Performances are Thursday through Sunday, April 23-26, at The District, 627 Massachusetts Ave., Indianapolis. Get tickets at indydistricttheatre.org.