‘Black Trilogy’ Shares Common Experiences

There is little that’s original in “A Black Trilogy 1999: Three More Original One-Act Plays From the Avant-Garde” at the Inglewood Playhouse. The avant-garde here means purely ordinary and two-dimensional interpretations of African American experiences, at an excruciating snail’s pace.

In Edgar Chisholm’s “Jailhouse Jock,” Roxy (Gina Marie Fields) begins an unlikely romance with a convict named Snake (Leslie A. Jones) when he mistakenly calls up from the prison. Her sister, Kat (Taka Valentine, replacing Monique Peek), is an unmarried mother. Roxy pays the rent while Kat attends school.

“Chances Are,” written and directed by Yvette Culver, is a family intervention into the youngest sister’s (Valentine) cocaine habit. What could be tragic and explosive is rendered preachy and predictable by Culver.

Dennis Gersten’s “Willie Said To” comes closest to touching an emotional spark. A black teacher (Michael Massengale) doubts his blackness (“I’m certainly not white, but I don’t know how to be black; I have no roots”) as he tries to guide Latino and black students toward college. The concept of there being true and false aspects of ethnicity isn’t new, and Gersten handles it without diplomacy. Director Spencer Scott resorts to hysterics and outsized antics. As in “Jailhouse Jock,” his staging is stagnant, playing to the center in stilted regularity.

Having a stand-up comic emcee this bill seems like a good idea, but the comedy stylings of Kimberlee Furgess are labored and more irritating than entertaining.

Rather than an audience, these one-acts need more polishing.

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* “A Black Trilogy 1999: Three More Original One-Act Plays From the Avant-Garde,” Inglewood Playhouse, 740 Warren Lane, Inglewood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends April 4. $12. (323) 860-3208. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.