Bullet Review: FLEX — in previews at Lincoln Center/Mitzi Newhouse

Given the Lincoln Center membership demographic they need to keep the defibrillators handy during a steamy fantasy scene in Flex, a play now in previews about black female high school athletes and their dreams in 1998 Arkansas.

Playwright Candrice Jones takes a deep dive into the layers of drama connecting the lives of five young women bonded by their shared dream of getting their team to the state basketball championship as a pathway out of life trajectories that might otherwise await them.

The cast is talented and worked well together. There are standout moments and performances. Christiana Clark as the coach and the two leads played by Erica Mathews and Tamera Tomakili were excellent. The narrative arc of the play is driven by a series of subplots — a pregnant star, toxic competitive jealousy and the strong presence of religion in the lives of these young women in the rural South. There is a baptism scene and a redemptive confession that felt too much like a contrived Sunday bible school play.

The high energy spirit of the talented young cast mirrored that quality in the characters they skillfully brought to life. I joined in the hearty applause but I wasn’t moved to rave about this production. Then again the play was not written for old white guys.