"It's not a black experience, nor a white experience, but an American experience," playwright Don Wilson Glenn emphasized during a post-performance gathering after American Menu, an award-garnering play that is making its regional premiere this season at the Ensemble Theatre. (This chance for the audience to meet, greet and dialogue with the actors and (occasionally) the playwright is just one aspect of what I've come to love about attending Ensemble's productions.) Wilson — who dedicated the play to the memory of his mother, Mary Lou Davis, who labored as a kitchen worker at a then-segregated Livingston, Texas lunch counter — is right-on with dialogue, character and an evocation of the turbulent time (May 1968), after Dr. King's assassination. Four of the five characters in this poignant, powerful production directed by the Ensemble's Eileen J. Morris are based on stages of his mother's life. Hurry, American Menu has been held over with two final performance, Saturday, March 6, at 2 pm and 8 pm; Ensemble Theatre, 3535 Main Street, box office 713.520.0055; ensemblehouston.com. Photo by David Bray.