Don't be fooled by the title Knocking Up the Mob. It's not another shoot-em-up gangster movie but a satirical comedy that examines stereotypes most people hold and are familiar with, but too uncomfortable to face.
This writer had the opportunity to sit in on some of the rehearsals. There were moments when I laughed hysterically and moments where I found myself shifting in my seat from an uncomfortable scene and moments when I smiled with pure joy from the emotion the actors and actresses brought to the stage. It was incredible.
According to the playwright, Rick Watkins, "Fear of the unknown and fear of what you don't know or don't know anything about is what causes all these problems. I'm trying to do something to wake people up to these prejudices."
Rick Watkins, a Black playwright who happens to be gay, grew up on the South Side of Chicago. Being a quiet and shy kid and much of a loner, his first love was story. He would sit in the house and watch television and people couldn't understand it. He loved characters and dissecting them and the whole creative process. And when he wasn't watching television he'd be analyzing a movie or lost in a good book. But it was his introduction to theater, by his drama teacher at Dunbar High School, that brought him out of his shell. Watkins said that he is forever grateful to her.
Watkins studied theater at Texas' St. Edwards University, with an emphasis on playwriting and acting. One of the reasons he studied playwriting back in the 1980s, was because in the entertainment business and still today, it is not easy for Black actors to get work and one of the things he learned in high school from his drama teacher was "if you're a writer and you can create it, you can write and perform your own stuff, that way you're not always at the mercy of someone else."
But before the writing bug bit, he started out acting. He did regional theater for about eight years after graduating from college. He toured California, Utah, Montana and Oklahoma to name a few destinations, performing what were called "stock" plays, which have stereotypical characters that tend to be easy targets for parody and criticized as cliches.
Watkins performed with the Texas summer-stock theater. Twelve Angry Men, Room Service, Shakespearean plays and The Serpent, an experimental work, were some of the plays he performed.
Living out of a suitcase and from one hotel to the next can seem fun at first, visiting different cities, but being on the road can take its toll even for a twentysomething. Upon returning to Chicago, Watkins felt it was time to settle down and find some stability—and that's when Mecca Acting Limited was born.
A friend of his had a contact with M&R Productions and wanted to do children's theater. At that time, in the late 1980s, M&R Productions owned a lot of the movie theaters in Chicago; that's when his friend asked him to join him, along with five other members, starting Mecca Acting Limited. They would perform children's theater throughout Chicago and ended up getting a contract with the Chicago Public Schools. Mecca would bring about 200-300 students out to one of the M&R theaters and perform plays ranging from A Christmas Carol to Peter Pan.
The company lasted five years, until his friend landed a role in a Broadway show. It was so successful that he ended up staying with it for a while and Mecca Acting Limited closed its doors. As for Watkins, he had grown tired of doing children's theater and started doing Chicago non-equity theater for three years, including two plays with Julie Louis Dreyfuss' Practical Theater Company.
Family obligations, responsibilities and the need for a steady paycheck led Watkins to look for full-time employment and he started working at SAFCO Corporation in the late 1990s as a customer services logistics manager. However, at the same time, he was doing a little bit of theater here and there—and realized he had to pursue his passion.
Watkins said, "I really believe this is what I was meant to do, entertain."
He pursued other forms of writing, including screenwriting and penning novels, while working full-time. He found, as he grew older, the desire to be on stage sort of dissipated; meanwhile, the love of writing intensified.
In 2015, Watkins took a leap of faith and quit his job of 20-plus years and, on a wing and a prayer, started Rick Watkins Productions.
Although Knocking Up The Mob was conceived and written eight years ago as a screenplay, Watkins felt it would be best told on stage, where the audience could see the sexual, racial and overall ethnic stereotypes as real people, who go through a change where you actually get to see who these people really are. It explores questions like; what does a conventional family look like in 2015? Can a transgender person be accepted in society for who they are? Obstacles that interracial couples face and can a gay man and straight woman raise a child and not engage in a sexual relationship? And so much more.
"Being a gay man, at the time I came out ( in the early 1980s ) wasn't easy—not that it ever is," Watkins said. "I came out right before the AIDS epidemic and society made being gay even harder than it already was, but I think I was lucky to come out when I did. Times were fun and we weren't afraid. Even though society wasn't able or willing to accept homosexuality, the gay community thrived. I've been able to see the gay community grow in acceptance and acquire rights. It's been inspiring to see the next generation embrace and fight for the right to exist—and exist equally."
To any aspiring playwrights out there, Watkins has advised, "Hone your craft, surround yourself with supportive people and never give up!"
Knocking Up The Mob, which Rick Watkins directs and wrote, will run at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., through Nov. 8. For tickets, visit RickWatkinsProductions.com or call the Greenhouse Theater Center's box office at 773-404-7336.
Denise M. O'Neal is a freelance writer and blogger who resides on the north side of Chicago. Follow her on twitter @iwrite16, TheInfalliblePalate.com and ChicagoNOW's "Everyday A Vacay."
Watkins and O'Neal met in screenwriting class 12 years ago and have been good friends ever since. They continue to encourage and inspire each other in their writing endeavors.
