Flex

It’s 1997 and Cynthia Cooper rules the WNBA. It’s no wonder every player on Plainnole’s Lady Train wants to “go pro,” and none more than Point Guard Starra Jones. And they’re damn good. However, the realities and pressures of life for black women in rural Arkansas threaten to tear them apart, and with it, their chance for the life they so crave. A play divided over 4-quarters of the game.

Candrice Jones on FLEX

“I wrote ‘FLEX’ because I wanted to celebrate young African-American women while creating a nostalgic snapshot of 90s. ‘FLEX’ captures the introduction of hope into an environment that sometimes feels depleted of opportunity. The narrative covers so many issues; poverty, sexuality, and freedom of choice are all major themes. Still, the relationships the Lady Train share is the ultimate catalyst that moves the narrative forward. As it stands, ‘FLEX’ is a brutally honest love letter to women of the American South. That’s exactly how I want it to be received.”

Candrice Jones

Playwright, poet, and educator, Candrice Jones is from Dermott, Arkansas. Candrice has been honored to have been a fellow at Callaloo for poetry at Brown University and London. She has also been a VONA Playwriting Fellow, and Calarts MFA Critical Studies recipient. Candrice’s primary goal as a writer is to write love letters for and to women of the American South. She is the author of the full-length play, Crackbaby. Candrice also serves as board member of The Weekend Theater as the Educational Outreach Specialist as well as Ozark Living Newspaper. In the summer of 2018, Candrice was a resident a Ground Floor where she developed FLEX. She was recently was given the 2018 Arkansas Arts Council Individual Arts Playwriting Fellowship and is ecstatic to develop FLEX at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival.