(Posted 8/2/23) By Fern Siegel

Sports is an apt metaphor for key themes: competition, rivalry and excellence. In Flex, now off-Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center, it’s a backdrop to critical issues that consume a black girls’ high-school basketball team.

It’s 1998, the first year of the Women’s National Basketball Association and the five determined Lady Train players believe the WNBA is their ticket out. In short, given the potential for scholarships and scouts, the stakes are crazy high.

And that’s for starters. The girls have to cope with searing realities on and off the court, including pregnancy, abortion, betrayal, religion and personal secrets. The tense, fast-paced drama, augmented by spot-on lighting, set and sound design, scores.

That’s thanks to a strong ensemble cast: Brittany Bellizeare, Christiana Clark, Renita Lewis, Erica Matthews, Ciara Monique and Tamera Tomakili. Each character is clearly delineated and the actors, whether in lead or supporting roles, shine.

Set in rural Arkansas, as the girls prep for regional finals — much of the play takes place on the basketball court —  they have to learn how to function as a coherent unit, while confronting individual ambitions. "Everyone plays a li'l dirty," Starra (an intense Erica Matthews) says. "It ain't a foul unless the refs call it."

Director Lileana Blain-Cruz skillfully handles Flex’s intense highs and lows. And the play’s coach (Christina Clark), who both intimidates and motivates her players, keeps the action moving.

The production features sets by Matt Saunders, costumes by Mika Eubanks, lighting by Adam Honoré, and sound by Palmer Hefferan.

Best of all, playwright Candrice Jones has fashioned a work that is neither heavy-handed nor a polemic. Rather, Flex feels authentic in every respect, including the audience holding its collective breath as key shots are made as we root for the girls to win — on every front.