Review: Tyler Perry's Madea on the Run Play

I've been a fan of Tyler Perry's since I first saw Diary of a Mad Black Woman in 2005. There was physical comedy, romance, drama, and lessons to be learned, taught by the ever-wise Madea, Mabel Earline Simmons, the matriach of a large family living in Atlanta.

So I have watched Perry's movies since then, but I had not seen all of the plays. I didn't even realize there were so many of them. So imagine my excitement when I discovered an unseen gem on BET+. Madea on the Run is a laugh-out loud comedy with serious notes of adultery, drug addiction, and theft, to name a few.

What starts out as Madea on the run from the police turns into her necessary presence in a house filled with chaos. Whether it's putting right the relationship between a mother and a daughter or calling out the preacher's wife for stepping out, Madea is in top form as is the singing.

The play brings in Latoya London who was the 4th place finalist on season three of American Idol along with gospel singer Tasha Page Lockhart. With songs written in part by Perry, the stage comes alive when the singing begins.

As I mentioned, there is a lot of humor in this play with Perry taking on the loud-mouthed fiance of Aunt Bam's granddaughter. He makes the mistake of tangling with Madea, and she has no problem pulling out her gun and threatening to shoot off his fingers.

The drama is played well with Madea doling out sound advice like you would expect from a Tyler Perry play, like telling people to take responsibity for what they're doing to themselves. It's not until close to the end of the play, like usual, that the hard doses of wisdom start dropping.

It's sad when someone has to come along and tell you the value of something that's already in your own house.

Sometime, people apologize. They done so much hurt to you and pain to you, you can't hear it. But I'm going to tell you right now, you may not be able to hear it today, but one day you'll hear it. And you got to forgive them.

Perry takes years of wisdom he learned the hard way and infuses them into these plays so that everyone can learn from their mistakes and look forward to the future. A gifted writer and storyteller, Perry always brings God into his works, and that's one of the true blessings of each story. It's hard to watch one of these plays and not feel the warmth and love that went into each one.

Every part of Madea on the Run is a combination of love and truth, and no one tells it better than Perry and the amazing crew he has assembled once again with him on stage.

Unfortunately, Perry isn't performing on stage anymore, and I regret that I didn't find his work much earlier as I would have been at every play. There's nothing like having a lot of laughs and learning something along the way. Madea on the Run play gives you a dose of all of them and so much more, with singing to lift your spirits and life lessons embedded within a remarkable cast. I encourage you to check this play out on BET+ if you haven't seen it. If you have seen it, and it's been a while, it's worth a second watch!

Also streaming on BET+ are nine additional Tyler Perry plays, including Madea Goes to Jail, Madea's Farewell, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Big Happy Family, Madea Gets a Job, Madea's Neighbors from Hell, Madea's Class Reunion, and more.