For Colored Boyz Beautifully Presents Black Men in Their Own Words and Worlds
On September 5, I attended the West Coast premiere of For Colored Boyz (On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown/When Freedom Ain’t Enuff), written by Bryan-Keyth Wilson with direction by Lynette Winters and Ry Armstrong and choreography by Jimmy Shields.
Brought to us by The Underground Theater, the play was described as a choreopoem, utilizing poetry, movement, and music to detail the unique intersectionality of being a Queer Black man in America. The title references the 1976 For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, a work by Ntozake Shange who coined the term choreopoem, and was adapted to film with the shortened title For Colored Girls directed by Tyler Perry (2010).
Not knowing what to expect other than the reference material, I entered Base Camp Studios in Belltown. The small, artfully graffitied space opened to a small stage with chairs forming an aisle to the stage rather than facing it. At the end of the aisle there was an array of five boxes—all different colors representing the personal stage of each character: The Man in - Blak, Green, Orange, Blue, and Red.
Man in Orange (Delvin “DJ” James), Man in Blu (Danny Gage), Man in Red (Matthew Lockett), and Man in Green (Ejay Amor) in For Colored Boyz
Courtesy of The Underground Theater
The narrative moved through vignettes of life as a Black man in America from slavery to modern day, touching on specific moments throughout history to highlight the different attitudes and coping skills needed to survive.
Although the play started with slavery, it also demonstrated the effects of the diaspora and how being Black in America encompasses far more cultural identities than we are often exposed to in media. Those cultural identities inform how we move through the world, but often Black people exist in a forced amalgamation of stereotypes and fear-based propaganda. Even as a Black person it can be hard to parse out the truths of who you are from who you have been told to be, or how you are treated as.
Since I’m not a man, I can only speak to the ways the play resonated with me as a Black person in America. But it is important to discuss how the play centers the pain experienced uniquely by Black men with the intersectionality of a queer identity. It shines a spotlight on the times those identities can feel at odds with each other; how at every turn, they are fighting the oppression of colonized indoctrination and the feeling of needing to defend their Blackness, queerness, masculinity, and even just their humanity.
A combination of acapella and background music from culturally Black musicians, the music weaved though the play. It served as both a narrative device aiding in the telling of the story and a connection while the play transitioned from scene to scene. The character monologues were spoken word, with poetry that recalled Shakespeare and Tupac. Poetry in motion (and at times in Spanish).
The movement of the play was my personal highlight. I have a soft spot for small stage plays. Being able to see the true facial expressions of the actors and feeling so immersed that you have no choice but to let the story sweep you up just hits different. The actors also interacted with the audience, making direct eye contact, chatting, flirting, or crying for help.
Man in Blu (Danny Gage)
Courtesy of The Underground Theater
It highlighted the fact that the experiences of Black men are often unseen—an internal battle to be grappled with and an external battle were the oppressors control the narrative and gaslight our Black men into silence. And we can’t forget the centuries of violence against Black men, all the while painting them as violent, lustful, and subhuman. We the audience were witnesses to the story, but we weren’t a part of it. Our role as witnesses added to the horror and helplessness for some of the stories told and amplified the horror and helplessness that Black people often feel as we navigate the world.
After the play I was able to have a brief interview with Lynette Winters (one of the directors) as well as two of the actors. Lynette shared a few details about working with Bryan-Keyth Wilson exclusively over the phone, how it took eight months to find a venue that allowed the actors the freedom of movement needed to tell the story, and how proud she was. The actors, Ejay Amor (Man in Green) and Delvin “DJ” James (Man in Orange), still sweat-covered and emotional from the premiere, graciously allowed me to interview them. Since I was still moved by the play, I wanted to know how they felt, why this was important to them, and what they hoped audiences would take away.
Unfortunately, the audio quality for my time with DJ James didn’t turn out well enough to publish here, but Ejay’s (Man in Green) did:
“What I really got to like hold close to me through this whole story was how I got to explore sexuality, gender, the definition of masculinity vs. femininity, esp. being a mixed black person, yeah, I think all the nuances of, the different aspects of ..the stories that we’re telling, cuz we start from back back back in the day and go all the way to modern day so an emotional whiplash, but it’s really great to tell that story.”
