Philip Zwerling

Locked Philip Zwerling

Locked is a play that explores an African American family's past and the pain of slavery, racism, and discrimination in America. A young man, Jalani Pace, returns to his grandmother's house in the South for a visit and discovers an old lock hidden in a drawer. When Jalani asks about the lock, his grandmother, Mary Alice, becomes nervous that the family's secrets (and her pain) will be unearthed. What lessons will the old lock teach Jalani, his family, and our nation about race, the past, and our future? Locked, a full-length play in two acts, explores this question and celebrates the human spirit's ability to overcome.