At its Sidney Harman Hall, The Shakespeare Theatre has mounted what may be the quintessential production of James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner. The Amen Corner is set in a church: a Black church. What resonance does that have for us as an audience? “..the black church is a very particular creation, having almost nothing whatever […]
Gun & Powder. Taking back the house. Flo, Sissy, the sisters Clarke and me.
Waiting for Gun & Powder to begin, I was surrounded. To my left, a middle-aged couple, both white, very quiet. To my right, a younger couple, both male. Behind me, three African American friends, two male and one female. I release my breath a little. At least We are here. Scattered scantily around Signature Theatre’s […]
Toxic Avenger: The Musical is indestructible. Here’s why.
Watching Rorschach Theatre’s production of Toxic Avenger: The Musical, I wondered what it is about this show that makes it seem as indestructible as its mutant monster hero? Toxic Avenger: The Musical, the joyfully schlocky show based on an obscure 1984 cult film full of New Jersey jokes, was not expected to have much of […]
Thoughts on Dominique Morisseau’s Pipeline. Make no mistake. These people are fighting for their lives
“He was her only child: her baby boy..maybe an A-1 student running, hiding, taking cover. The women gather crying tears that fill a million oceans. It doesn’t matter where you’re living. It doesn’t matter.” – Sweet Honey in the Rock, “The Women Gather” “Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, […]
Sheltered at Theater J raises the question – with terror, isolation and the pressure to assimilate rampant today, can we envision a Providence for ourselves and others
“Are we? Are we human?” – a line of dialogue from Sheltered “Noah said ‘No, no you’re full of sin. God’s got the key and you can’t get in.” – lyrics of “Didn’t It Rain,” a spiritual “She called him everything but ‘a child of god.’ – a familiar saying I used to hear when […]
Reflection on Black Nativity, and the power of faith and forgiveness in today’s world
As a Person of Faith, I have become more disenchanted with how Christmas is celebrated as I’ve gotten older. The commercialization of the holiday promotes materialism over caring about one another and any “loving humanity” paradigm. I see the overworked waiting for a break. I see the gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” […]
What ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ tells us about truth, self-deception and lies
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is playing in a delightful production that you should see, if you can, at Round House Theatre in Bethesda. It is a mystery. It is a paean to the courage of children. And it’s the kind of show that – just for an ecstatically delusional moment […]
Reflection: IN Series’ Stormy Weather could change how we experience The Tempest forever
“You don’t need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”- Bob Dylan Shakespeare’s The Tempest is a comedy in the sense that it has a happy ending. However, we only get to that happy ending by overlooking, accepting and/or not questioning the cruelty in Prospero’s governance of the island. I have always been […]
My thoughts on seeing Thoughts of a Colored Man
Thoughts of a Colored Man by young poet/playwright Keenan Scott II masterfully tells nearly every part of the experience of being a Black Male in America today. The tagline “One Theme: Seven Variations” is quite accurate as this body of work depicts the emotions not often articulated in public: Wisdom, Passion, Depression, Lust, Happiness, Love […]
Thoughts upon seeing Day of Absence at Theater Alliance
In Joy Ikekhua’s insightful reflection on School Girls: or, the African Mean Girls Play at Roundhouse Theater, they noted their discomfort with watching, in public, a play that exposed and explored painful scars endured by “Black” people that result from the effects of internalized ”white” supremacy. School Girls focused primarily on “colorism,” which can manifest […]
School Girls: or, the African Mean Girls Play. Funny for African-Americans, but what is it saying to White audiences?
As the stage lights brightened on Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play, I was immediately taken back to my primary and secondary school days in Lagos, Nigeria. The button up shirt and calf-length skirt school uniform sewn from fabric that seemed specifically chosen to be as unflattering as possible, the polished […]
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