“How do I prepare my son for a society that doesn’t value his life?” asks Leslie Ezra Smith during the opening scene of his one-man show, “The Book of Ezra.”
“I do not want to take for granted that my son will live his life without me. He is God’s gift to me, whether the world believes it or not. I have to let my son know that he is not road kill. This is my birthday gift to him. Just like every other Black man, my son deserves to have birthday, after birthday, after birthday.”
The result is a poignant, powerful and relatable moments that keeps the viewer engaged in Smith’s coming-of-age story that chronicles his life from adolescence until the age of 15.
“I remember when I was 15 and there was all this crazy violence going on: Black men were getting killed and people were getting offed,” Smith said during the show while photos of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Miles and Michael Brown flashed on a screen behind him. “Now my son is 15 and he’s experiencing the same thing. I don’t want my son to go through life not knowing his dad’s story like I did. Fathers we’ve got to fight for our sons and daughters. It seems like our sons are dropping like flies.”
Smith paints his young life as that of a good, bright kid trying to find his way in the world.
Despite the violence and hopelessness going on around him, Smith found hope through music thanks to his East Hills Elementary School teacher, Mrs. Hudson.
“You knew Mrs. Hudson believed in you,” he said. “She was the first artist in my life and she brought the artist out in me. She was the first person to tell me that I can tell my story.”
Other influential people in Smith’s life included poets Maya Angelou and Nikki Giovanni, but hip-hop was the father Smith never had.
“Hip-Hop was like a guru in in my life. It was like the father I so desired. I learned how to be a man and when I felt sad, confused or happy, hip-hop was there for me,” Smith said. “Hip-hop saved me from many nights of being depressed in a home with domestic violence where my mother was being beaten from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Hip-hop was like my father when my biological one didn’t bother.”
“The Book of Ezra” began the Pittsburgh Playwright’s 12th season.
“Every once in a while you come across an artist or person that is full of surprises, someone that amazes you, that first transforms your belief not only in why you are an artist but also that your dedication to art is a worthy cause,” explained Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre founder and artistic director, Mark Clayton Southers. “Leslie Ezra Smith is one such individual. One of the first things you notice about him is his abundance of expressive energy and his sensitivity to observe what matters and his nuanced approach to verbal sharing.
“The challenge of this piece was to unearth his stories, to break through those emotional scars and lower the walls that have been built to protect,” Southers continued. “We’ve only scratched the surface. His life has been full of experiences and lessons, and there will certainly be more to come.
For this is only the beginning. Leslie Ezra Smith has much more to share and Pittsburgh is fortunate to have him in our midst.”
(“The Book of Ezra” ran at the Pittsburgh Playwright’s Theatre through Oct. 25.)
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