‘Father Comes Home From the Wars’ an ambitious epic

The lead character in the drama Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) is facing a tough choice: Should he join the Confederate Army or not? Some key factors could influence our man, helpfully named Hero. We’re in 1862 Texas, he’s a slave, and he’s been promised “my freedom for my service” by his “boss-master.” It’s tempting to take the chance, but can a slave owner be trusted? And so begins the new project by Pulitzer-winner Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog). Actually, this is just the beginning of the beginning, since the evening is made up of three linked, Civil War–themed plays, to eventually be integrated into a nine-chapter epic reaching the present day. The first, A Measure of a Man, focuses on Hero (Sterling K. Brown) and that decision — he’s so torn that the plantation’s “chorus of less desirable slaves” is taking bets on the outcome. Hero decides to join up, but for reasons that have to do with his relationship with his lover, Penny (Jenny Jules), and his maimed friend, Homer (Jeremie Harris).