Katori Hall's HURT VILLAGE was produced at Signature Theatre. Photo Credit: Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Hurt Village, a show currently staged at the Signature Theatre, is one for the history books. Directed by Patricia McGregor and written by Katori Hall, this show immerses the audience in a black Memphis project known as Hurt Village. As the performance progresses, the unique set of characters masterfully shape the moving and memorable scenes.

Out of Hurt Village, a run-down housing project, emerges a family that wrestles with drugs, money problems, violence, and racial discrimination. Audience members become a part of Hurt Village through each of the characters’ journeys. From Cookie (Joaquina Kalukango), the smart-mouthed teen who wants to be a rap artist/flight attendant, to her grandmother, Big Mama (Tonya Pinkins), who works long hours to pay the rent and keep the family in tact, the characters’ individual stories all fit together in some special way. The family struggles as a girl hopes to finish school, a father (Buggy played by Corey Hawkins) returns from ten years of war, a mother (Marsha Stephanie Blake as Crank) aspires to become a hairstylist but faces a drug problem and a grandmother only wishes to provide for the future. As all this occurs, eviction is lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce on its prey. The superb supporting characters additionally thicken the plot and create magic while on stage.

Harsh and revealing, the story unveils the truth behind living in a place like Hurt Village where violence is common and abandonment is just another part of life. The stress and strain of this lifestyle affects every member of the family. Walking down the street can be dangerous. When going to buy beer at the local store, a notorious figure can appear with a gun in hand. Selling drugs in Tony C.’s (Ron Cephas Jones) district under his nose means you’re going to get shot. It’s the cruel reality, but one that these characters accept every time they close their front doors. The truth can be hard to accept, but this play unearths the real world, even though most try to ignore the facts.

If you are up for a gratifying and emotionally driven performance, then see this play before it closes. Touching, yet, tragic, Hurt Village is a show that embraces the facts of life and truly reaches the soul. This is acting, writing, and directing at their best.