Jemal McNeil, director of Soul Rep Theatre’s production of King Hedley II, wanted the characters in the play to be more than stereotypes.

RICH LOPEZ | Staff Writer Rich@DallasVoice.com

This week Soul Rep Theatre Company opens its 2025/26 season with the North Texas premiere of August Wilson’s play, King Hedley II. The season opener is part of Wilson’s American Century Cycle and is chapter eight of 10 plays that relate the African-American experience, with each play representing a specific decade.

Hedley takes place in the 1980s, and, for its director, Jemal McNeil, that is a time he was quite familiar with.

“I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, and in those days, the urban neighborhoods were poor but very diverse,” said McNeil. “Crack was introduced into those communities and decimated them

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