How clever of the Signature Theatre Company to begin this year's tribute to the Negro Ensemble Company with Leslie Lee's vital 1975 drama The First Breeze of Summer, a play that flaunts such exquisite ensemble performances. And lucky for theatergoers who already have tickets, since this rare combination of top-of-their-form players and an invigorating not-quite-dysfunctional family play -- realized through director Ruben Santiago-Hudson's masterful alchemy -- should make for a sold-out run.


While intermittently flawed by inconsistencies of tone, Lee's touching work is two kinds of a memory play. First, it's the playwright's fictionalized version of himself as Lou Edwards (Jason Dirden[...]