By Allison Pless

For most of the young people in TeCo Theatrical Productions' "King Hedley II," this is their first time on stage. Director Laterras R. Whitfield has pulled impressive and strong performances from all of the cast members, no small feat considering the heavy subject matter August Wilson's play deals with and the dialogue. The actors had a lot to memorize - "King Hedley II" is a wordy play with a small cast of six.

"King Hedley" culminates this year's T-An-T (Teenagers and Theater) Apprenticeship Program, a four-month workshop that allows students to work with theatre professionals to learn all aspects of staging a production. In addition to the on-stage actors, students served as Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, Board Operator and did the Lighting Design. Local artist Sherry O'Connor did the Set Design.

The actors played characters substantially older than themselves - the closest possibly being 35-year-old Tonya (Keyana Davis). King (Devunta Turner), Ruby (Keria Jinks and Marlaina Wright alternate, Marlaina was on for the night of this review), Mister (Xavier Washington), Elmore (Amir Razavi) and Stool Pigeon (Clifford Cummings) make up the rest of the cast.

"King Hedley" is set in 1985 in the post-Reaganomic era. It takes place in the backyard behind two homes in a low-income area of Pittsburgh. King has returned from serving seven years in prison. It what serves as an analogy throughout, the play opens with King planting seeds in a patch of dirt - people keep telling him it's bad dirt but he doesn't believe it. He thinks - with the proper tending - his seeds will grow. In the same way, King is trying to emerge from a bad situation and better himself. He and his friend are selling refrigerators to raise enough money to open a video store.

Mister doesn't see anything wrong with hitting his wife, who "walks into doors." King is married to Tonya and has learned she is pregnant. In an emotional soliloquy, Tonya (Keyana Davis) tells how she feels about the pregnancy and bringing a baby into their current situation. She had another child as a teenager and, at 35, is becoming a grandmother. She doesn't want a child of hers to be younger than her grandchild.

King and Tonya live with his 62-year-old mother Ruby. Ruby likes to reflect on when she was younger. An old suitor, Elmore, returns and wants to marry her. He, too, spent a few years in prison. Ruby has kept a secret about King's father. Elmore knows it and thinks she should tell King.

Rounding out the cast is Stool Pigeon, who lives next door to Ruby. Stool Pigeon speaks directly to the audience at times, as well as to the other actors, about God. He buries a dead cat in the same garden patch King planted, stating blood is buried there.

This is a student production, but the young actors make you remember their characters - they capture them well. King, especially, makes you feel both his hope and despair.

TeCo's T-An-T program came about as a result of parents who needed something for their teenagers to do after school. This is the program's second year. Director Whitfield spent the last three months working with the teens to learn their lines. The dialogue, written in a style Wilson favors in all his plays, was also an adjustment from the way the students normally talk.

Executive Artistic Director Teresa Coleman Wash notes that most of the students involved in this production could relate to and understand the material. In addition to students from Dallas ISD, T-An-T includes youth from the Dallas County Juvenile Department and the Volunteers of North Texas Truancy Program. The creative outlet of art programs has been found to be a good vehicle for helping students and keeping them in school.

"King Hedley II" is worth your time to see and support what these young people are doing. The play runs one more weekend at the Bishop Arts Theater Center, 215 S. Tyler, in North Oak Cliff. Performances are Thursday through Saturday, April 30-May 2, at 8 p.m. nightly. Seating is general admission. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. A service fee applies. All sales are final; no refunds or exchanges. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the box office at 214-948-0716 or visit the web site at http://www.tecotheater.org/season.php. Note: This play contains strong language.

King Hedley II with the two women in his life - mother Ruby (at left) and wife Tonya (below).