“A Good Boy” is a Keenly Observed Humanistic Consideration of Capital Punishment with Songs and Humor

ARTS & CULTURE

CHAPEL HILL — Welcome to Crossroads Correctional Facility, “where time goes to die.” Bullock, the curmudgeonly security guard for the waiting area with a not-so-enlightened worldview, is at the end of his patience after a 20-hour shift.

Three family members of men on death row trickle in one by one. A fourth is there to collect her brother’s possessions (it’s “execution week”).

A situation with the prison population and the prisoner count is causing compounding delays, as these characters are unable to fulfill their reasons for being there and have urgent other arrangements to make.

The pressure cooker of “A Good Boy” is thus set in the aftermath of a state-sanctioned execution the day before.

Mild-mannered Mary, who is devoted to these 2-hour visits, is there to tell her son Robbie that his grandma is on life support. She hasn’t touched her son in 19 years.

Extroverted Yolanda, sober and clean for 18 months, is there because it’s her son Daniel’s birthday. Her son told her not to visit until she was clean for a year.

Conflicted Bradley is there to see his estranged uncle, Boo, and talk to the warden. Bradley has a personal issue and needs to know who his father is.

As for the box of Jimbo’s possessions, Heather is there to collect; there are absurdly too many reasons why she can’t.

With a penetrating book and lyrics by Lynden Harris, “A Good Boy” is a Hidden Voices production and had its world premiere last week at PlayMakers Repertory Company (PRC) in a short run.

Founded by Harris, Hidden Voices collaborates with underrepresented communities to create award-winning works that combine narrative, performance, music, digital media, interactive exhibits, and community conversations.

For 24 years, the justice-based collective has been involved with prisons and death row. The fictional play is drawn from this intensive work, including death row workshops, interviews with families, and trainings with correctional officers.

Produced fittingly in PRC’s flexible Kenan Theatre, the action took place in the space’s “alley seating” configuration. This puts a narrow landing strip of a stage in between seats on either side and balconies along the left, right, and center.

A small group of musicians on one balcony brought the contemporary compositions of Marc Callahan and AJ Layague to life.

The two-act musical play has about a dozen songs that further each character’s story, while some make connections between them or put a voice to collective feelings.

Directed by Kathryn Hunter-Williams, with scenic and costume design by Derrick Ivy, the songs in “A Good Boy” made the heavy subject matter digestible and elicited real emotions from the audience.

Then there was the humor. Another buffer to the grim realities in the work, it’s interspersed throughout, sometimes sardonic, and particularly well-executed in the rambunctious character of Yolanda.

Both song and humor were vital pressure valves in the telling of these profoundly difficult human stories.

“Face to Face” is a group song that enshrined every visitor’s cherished time with their incarcerated loved one.

The heart of the play was in Mary and Yolanda’s shared song, “You Have to Believe.”

Encapsulating the universal unconditional love of mothers, it reinforced musically what is echoed throughout: these sons, these men are accepted and loved, and a single mistake doesn’t negate their humanness, suffering, or redeeming qualities.

“A Good Boy” champions our common humanity. It accepts our imperfections and promotes belonging over isolation.

For example, Act II’s unexpected “Who’s Your Daddy” finds the so-far unsympathetic Bullock and Bradley bond over their father wounds.

The play consistently humanizes inmates (especially), families, and staff, acknowledges the root causes of generational trauma and violence, factors in mental health, the inconsistencies in evidence and trial, as well as how families and staff are also suffering and stuck in the carceral system.

Each of the five performances included a post-show discussion with activists, advocates, victims, researchers, legal experts, elected officials, wardens, and professors.

The First Lady of North Carolina, Anna Stein, was in attendance on opening night.

Jeffrey Blair Cornell was aptly sour and dour as Bullock from start to finish (not breaking character isn’t an easy feat). Hagard, ornery, and overworked, he doesn’t have access to an upgrade in his opinions or to the healing he needs.

Hazel Edmond personified Mary as the doting mother. Radiating acceptance even when she wasn’t talking or singing, she firmly believes in Robbie’s innocence. Under her quiet exterior, she possesses inner strength and resolve.

Yolanda Rabun delivered the over-the-top humor and personality written into her character, Yolanda, with aplomb. Down to earth, energetic, and loud, she’s a rule-breaker who liberated Jimbo’s box for Heather’s sake. She wants to make it up to Daniel.

Jade Arnold embodied Bradley’s conflicted nature in every ounce of his large frame, even when he didn’t have lines to speak or lyrics to sing. He is successful, good-looking, and rich. Yet, something is gnawing at him, something is wrong, and something is missing.

Serena Ebhardt portrayed grieving Heather with the frazzled and sad expression, unkempt hair, and hastily thrown-on clothes of a sister whose brother had been executed the day before. She conveyed the guilt she carries about Jimbo’s childhood and later years in her physicality and fragile voice.

“A Good Boy” was a thoughtful, sensitive, moving, and informative treatment of an important and complex issue.

Find out which quality productions are coming in the PlayMakers’ 2025-2026 season with The Local Reporter’s preview.

Pamir Kiciman is an artist who writes about a range of the arts and the creative process. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocalReporter.press.