Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child (2009)

Using spirit-filled music and memorable characters like Jake, the doting son, Kelley, the insensitive daughter-in-law, Angel, the promiscuous teenager, and Mamie, the feisty crossing guard, Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child touches on issues within the community such as family dysfunction, peer pressure, substance abuse, and other pertinent matters that are too often inadequately addressed or considered altogether taboo. In this gripping and engaging dramatic piece, a woman simply known as "Grandma" serves as the pillar of her surroundings. Her son's family is in crisis, and those within her neighborhood are drowning in chronic troubles of their own. Through it all, Grandma seeks God on behalf of those who are not spiritually inclined enough to seek Him for themselves. Even those who resent her, such as her son's sometimes-rigid wife, Kelley, ultimately end up on Grandma's prayer list. And when the walls of the lives of those around Grandma seem to come tumbling down, they know who to turn to for guidance and sound counsel. It's not always advice that they want to hear, but it is consistently the precise word needed to steer them in the right direction. Other characters in the cast bring even more drama to the script. In her God-given wisdom, Grandma confronts Freda's suppressed anger and bitterness, convincing her to open up about a rape kept secret for years. In addition, she prays her grandson, Jovan, out of choosing a life of gang involvement and is instrumental in helping to open Nichol's eyes to the fact that her daughter, Angel, needs her to be the responsible mother to rescue her child from the path of destruction that she has been traveling. Though the ending takes a toll on Grandma, her life was full of purpose and not at all lived in vain.