Burning Coal's Red Pitch Offers
an Important Perspective

The Southeast premiere of Tyrell Williams' award-winning play, Red Pitch, directed by Avis Hatcher-Puzzo and presented on Feb. 5-22 by Burning Coal Theater Company in the Murphey School Auditorium in Raleigh deals with the timeless struggle between youth and change, while highlighting some critical social issues that hit close to home. Many residents of the Triangle will recognize the pressures in Red Pitch, especially if they witnessed the gentrification of Walltown in the 1990s, or earlier, the dismantling of Black Wall Street in the 1960s. The Triangle has been deep in the throes of expansion for a while, but Red Pitch and stories like it are crucial to celebrating and preserving our local communities.

Red Pitch follows three 16-year-old boys, growing up in South London as they prepare to try out for a prestigious youth-league soccer club. They hang out, train, and grow up on the Red Pitch, a blacktop in their neighborhood, marked by a wire fence and a brick backdrop.

Red Pitch stars (from left) understudy Vuitton Bond as Bilal, Quinn Gray as Joey, and Jireh Ijeoma as Omz (photo by Kevin Lord)

As the show goes on, the boys face the reality of their friends moving away, as the slate of apartments they live in are bought up and demolished. Joey (Quinn Gray) tries to plan for the future and make money off the expansion, Bilal (Jaden Rogers) ignores the expansion and throws himself into tryout prep, and Omz (Jireh Ijeoma) clings to the hope that the renovations won't kick people out and the neighborhood will be better for it.

As each of the boys struggles to accept the change, they fight over the tryouts and what's truly important. Joey, Bilal, and Omz try so hard to understand, repeating the same platitudes and cliches that they hear from adults or social media, all of which have a grain of truth, but don't really help them.

Red Pitch stars Jireh Ijeoma (left) as Omz and understudy Vuitton Bond as Bilal (photo by Kevin Lord)

Red Pitch shines for its nuance, showing each boy's flaws and how their worries drive them to make mistakes. Each time that the boys posture, fight, or dramatize, the audience understands why, presenting a crucially sympathetic portrayal of young, struggling boys doing their best to be happy, even if they don't know what that means yet. Gray, Rogers, and Ijeoma deserve a lot of credit for portraying such nuance, depicting desperate confusion, hope, and hurt.

Gray, Rogers, and Ijeoma work very well together, and all of them nail the teenage boy persona. They're silly together, they turn on each other the moment that they feel threatened, and it is always clear how much the characters mean to one another, even when they're fighting. Jireh Ijeoma's Omz stands out, as Omz often postures and picks fights to cover how much he cares or worries. Ijeoma gives a moving performance of a kid with far too much on his shoulders, trying to carry it all, and falling apart at the seams.

Burning Coal's Feb. 5-22 production of Red Pitch stars Jireh Ijeoma as Omz (photo by Kevin Lord)

Their performances did leave some areas to improve, though nothing detracted from the show itself. Some lines were over-delivered, especially in tense scenes; and it is difficult to maintain a South London accent in the heat of the moment. With that said, any overacting still fits within the context of the characters, and the cast brought plenty of energy to their personas.

While portraying dramatic, emotional teenage boys, too much energy is far more preferable than not enough. Similarly, the blocking could get awkward at times. The cast did a great job moving around the contained set during their soccer practices and street matches, but the movements occasionally left them out of position and closed off from parts of the audience.

Red Pitch stars Jireh Ijeoma (left) as Omz and Quinn Gray as Joey (photo by Kevin Lord)

Scenic charge artist Meredith Riggan's set and sound designer Juan Isler's audio are a highlight of Red Pitch. The set was static, consisting of a fence between the house and the stage that often gave the poignant impression of the boys being trapped in their crumbling neighborhood. The backdrop played construction noises and the occasional protest, but very cleverly changed the volume during scenes in which the gentrification of the neighborhood felt more invasive.

Red Pitch stars Quinn Gray (left) as Joey and Jireh Ijeoma as Omz (photo by Kevin Lord)

At points when the boys were arguing about their future, the construction noises almost drowned them out, creating another potent symbol of the real problem at hand. Thania Melendez's lighting stayed fairly simple, only changing to indicate days passing or when the boys slipped into their daydreams.

Burning Coal's Red Pitch is a good production of an excellent story, full of genuine feelings and real issues. It is easily relatable -- fear, change, and innocence are at the heart of the most universal stories -- but it provides more perspective to empathize with. At its core, Red Pitch explores how we deal with change, and what makes our communities feel like home.

Southern Concepts Design and Build sponsored the Red Pitch set for Burning Coal Theatre Company (photo by Kevin Lord)

Tyrell Williams' RED PITCH (In Person at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12-15 and 19-22), directed by Avis Hatcher-Puzzo and starring Jireh Ijeoma as Omz, Jaden Rogers as Bilal, and Quinn Gray as Joey, plus understudy Vuitton Bond (Burning Coal Theatre Company in the Murphey School Auditorium in Raleigh). STUDY GUIDE: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGqulYri5Q/Zsibprk-sHSgARa49cGbrQ/view. PRESENTER: https://burningcoal.org/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/burning-coal-theatre-co/, https://www.facebook.com/burningcoaltheatrecompany, https://www.instagram.com/burningcoaltc/, https://www.tiktok.com/@burningcoaltc, https://x.com/burningcoaltc, and https://www.youtube.com/@BurningCoaltc. PODCASTS: https://burningcoal.podbean.com/. 2025-26 MAINSTAGE SEASON: https://burningcoal.org/season-29/. VENUE: https://burningcoal.org/plan-your-visit/ and https://burningcoal.org/history-of-the-murphey-school/. DIRECTIONS/PARKING: https://burningcoal.org/plan-your-visit/. ACCESSIBILITY: https://burningcoal.org/accessibility/. RED PITCH (2022 Off-West End and 2024 West End play): https://www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk/productions/red-pitch/. THE SCRIPT: https://zoboko.com/book/rn4p96oq/red-pitch-nhb-modern-plays. TYRELL WILLIAMS (English playwright and screenwriter): https://www.casarotto.co.uk/clients/tyrell-williams and https://www.blackplaysarchive.org.uk/playwrights/tyrell-williams/. WARNING: Burning Coal cautions, "[This show contains] Moderate profanity [and is] suitable for ages 14+. Please be advised that this production uses a strobe-light effect." TICKETS: $30 ($20 students, educators, and active-duty miliary personnel and $25 seniors 65+), except $5 students 18 and under, plus taxes and fees. Click here to buy tickets. INFORMATION: 919-834-4001 or info@burningcoal.org. PLEASE DONATE TO: Burning Coal Theatre Company.

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