Basketball is the metaphor for the tough lives of five high school girls in Plainnole, AK, in Candrice Jones's new "Flex." Flex is the name of the offense point guard Starra Jones is supposed to run, but that would involve passing the ball to Sidney, a recent transplant from Oakland, and Starra's rival for team leader. Santeon Brown as Starra and Paige Mayes as Sidney are both standout performers. The rest of the team, as well as their coach Francine (Halili Knox), make up a terrific ensemble of women determined to get the most out of their lives as well as support each other during and after the game.
Starra stands out as the honest-to-goodness dribble-behind-the-back basketball player in this ensemble. (The others kind of go through the motions, basketball-wise.) Starra has also got moxie - although that's the very thing that gets her into trouble with the others. It's a little difficult to fathom why she would come up such a strange and wacky plan to maintain her place as the most important player on the team, but Brown takes us with her as she squirms in the difficult corner she has forced herself into.
The key to the drama is April, played with heart and soul by Camille Collaço. The team needs her, but she has gotten pregnant. The father is hinted at, but there is also talk of molestation that the other girls seem to understand very well. What to do? We let the team step in.
This is the power of Flex: run the offense, stay together and come out stronger as a team than you ever could as a single player, no matter how fancy you dribble.
RATINGS ★ ★ ★ BANG
The San Francisco Theater Blog grants "Flex" Three Stars with a Bangle of Praise for Santeon Brown and director Margo Hall. The script does not allow Brown (Starra) to let up on her intransigent hard-headedness and she allows us see and feel her anguish. Director Hall keeps the tension high throughout. Basketball is more than a game for all these women and they are determined to give it everything they have. Ain't no foul if the whistle don't blow.
"Flex"
San Francisco Playhouse
450 Post St., San Francisco
Through May 2, 2026
$52-$145
