Brian Richardson and Nikyla Boxley Photo by Hollis King

"What do we owe the next generation when our own dreams have withered?," asks the press material for this production presented by Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre in partnership with North Carolina Black Repertory Company. Director Jackie Alexander's engaging mounting embraces the playwright's vibrant language as we observe a teenager attempting to bloom, despite the depleted state of her familial soil.

Designers Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay (set), Antoinette Tynes (lights), and Lee Martinez Cruz (sound) create an inviting atmosphere upon entering the WP Theater, as an outdoor dirt road rum shop on the island of Grenada, though the many coats of paint on its weather-beaten structure have peeled away, offers a collage of colors with its bottle labels, advertisements and bar stools.

The family business was a wedding gift given to Fitz (Brian Richardson) and Rose (Melanie Matthews) by the groom's grandfather, in hopes that his musician grandson could run it successfully and support many children. In a lovely exchange, the now middle-aged pair recall their courtship days when she would watch him perform as a young steelpan player with dreams of making a career in the music industry.

But those dreams never came true, and with the birth of their only child, Garland (Nikyla Boxley), named for his band The Mighty Garland and The Fantasees, Fitz turned his efforts to the rum shop, though it's always been Rose doing the bulk of the work.

Charmingly played by Richardson and Matthews, this is a couple whose youthful passion has given way to genially sarcastic banter in a relationship focused on financial survival. The crusty Fitz sees himself as the traditional head of the household, while the nurturing Rose puts up with his sexism with a hard armor of no-nonsense attitude. When he complains, "You used to have shape like a Coca Cola bottle. Now, is just a Coca Cola can," she counters by pointing to his belly and asking, "Is it twins or triplets, yuh carrying?"

Garland has inherited her father's talent for playing steelpan, and is the captain of her convent school's band. But when a popular band offers her a chance to join them after her upcoming graduation, Fitz would prefer she continue her education, skeptical of her chances for a music career.

"I never heard of a famous female pannist."

"You will. I'm going to be the first one."

The production is enhanced with original Calypso music composed by acclaimed Trinidadian musician Etienne Charles, and there are moments when the father and daughter relationship lights up over their love of the music, but Garland feels repressed by Fitz's overprotectiveness, likely based on his experiences being on his own playing gigs on the road.

"I'm hard on you because you are not a boy. The world not easy on anyone, especially a girl child. "

While there are aspects of Caribbean culture presented in the play that others are more likely to spot and appreciate, Blooming in Dry Season certainly touches on universal issues experienced by many who pursued careers in the arts at a young age, and those who go on in life despite the disappointment of not being able to sustain a steady living from it.