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A Must See

We Were There: Turn Me Loose

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by Darnell Lamont Walker

“Everyone stand up, and on the count of three, I want you all to yell ‘Nigger,’” Joe Morton in the role of Dick Gregory instructed us. The entire audience stood to their feet, some more nervous than others.

“Do we say it?” I heard a young white boy near me whisper to his sister.

Me sitting directly behind an entire row of white folks at a play about the life of Dick Gregory could be nothing more than hilarious, ironic, and most of all, awkward. “I will enjoy this too much,” I told the Black woman sitting beside me just minutes before the lights dimmed. She knew exactly what I meant and laughed.

When I agreed to see Joe Morton play comedian Dick Gregory in Turn Me Loose there were no guarantees as to what I would see. Well except for Morton. To not be an admirer of this actor’s talent is not to be an admirer of the performance arts, whatsoever.

What was not guaranteed, and it’s a great thing it wasn’t, was me walking into the theater on the heels of Ben Vereen, and directly followed by Dick Gregory, his wife Lillian, and family. There I stood, 15 minutes from curtain and this was already a night I’d write about in a letter to my grandfather.

In 1994 I read “Nigger” by Dick Gregory and decided I was free. This great emancipator of a young, black, Virginian, I imagined, would never be thanked directly, but that night happened.

When I see a show I’m focused on the talent on the stage or on the screen. I wait to see how long it takes me to forget about the actor and only see who they’ve been working so hard to become. That said, I didn’t see Joe Morton until the show ended and we were shaking hands on the corner of West 43rd Street and 8th Avenue. I laughed until I was damn near crossing the line into heckling, then suddenly I found myself fighting back tears wondering how I didn’t notice he’d gone from entertaining us to educating us. We’d gone from hysterically taunting Southern racists to tearfully mourning the death of Medgar Evers in less than 20 seconds, and it was creatively and intellectually inspiring.

John Carlin, Turn Me Loose’s outstanding co-star, appeared on stage in a double-breasted suit, armed with old jokes about wives and race, and instantly we knew we had been transported where Dick needed us to be to begin his story.

“Don’t write so much of a review,” Drew Shade, our founder at Broadway Black said before we parted ways after the show. Still feeling the high of the show. “Just write about your experience.” It’s been years since I’ve had a more incredible experience in New York City. To have many of life’s fantasies met while simultaneously being creatively and intellectually fed is, in short, [expletive] amazing! In a short letter to the 12-year-old me, I wrote: be patient, all your heroes will know of you, too.

And without saving on the dramatics, I end this with:

Knowing eternity has not yet physically happened for man, we hope our actions and our voices echo across the ages to come. People who would otherwise ignore our existence will hear our names and know how hard we fought and how deeply passionate we were. The name Richard “Dick” Claxton Gregory, thanks to this superb cast and crew, will undoubtedly echo. And if I am fortunate to ever tell my own story, it will be known I walked among giants.

Tickets to the off-Broadway production of Turn Me Loose can be purchased here!

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A Must See

We Were There: Sojourners & Her Portmanteau

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Playwright, educator, opera singer, and Queen, Mfoniso Udofia has two plays running at New York Theatre Workshop. *pause* TWO PLAYS. In the SAME season!?!? *ends congratulatory gasp* Sojourners and Her Portmanteau are performed in repertory, as two chapters of Udofia’s sweeping, nine-part saga, The Ufot Cycle.  Admittedly, before researching each show, I didn’t know the definition of either word; and in the spirit of keeping it consistent with the honesty, I didn’t like either play. I loved them.

Sojourners

Minimalism seems to be the name of the game these days.  I sat down to a completely black stage, sans a multimedia display lodged on the ceiling at a 45-degree angle.  Clutching my all white program and bobbing my head to the ‘70s pop rock pre-show music, I prepared my heart for the story of Sojourners, well at least that was the plan.  The stage begins to rotate and we meet Abasiama (Chinasa Ogbuagu) and Ukpong (Hubert Point-Du Jour), Nigerian expatriates sojourning in Houston, Texas with the plan to start a family, earn their degrees, and go back to Nigeria until life happens.

Charming and handsome, Ukpong becomes defined by his leather jacket, shoulder work and shimmy which match the fascination and yearning for freedom that illuminates his eyes every time he talks of peace, protest, and Prince–all shaping his view of 1970s America, and consequently, the American Dream.  But does leather compensate for grit? Is a movement or vibe really a panacea for disappointment, aimlessness, and a need to find yourself?  Abasiama enters the play pregnant, purposed, and outfitted in pieces of Nigerian garb, grounded in duty showing a stark contrast to Ukpong who floats in desire.  What’s lost in your household is found elsewhere, and this is when we start to see, and root for, Abasiama’s transformation from timid to tenacious.

Enter Moxie (Lakisha May), a colorful prostitute turned protector and friend.  There is a mutual respect despite great differences between her and Abasiama, with their love for one another creating moments that make you believe in the beauty of humanity.  Enter Disciple (Chinaza Uche), another warm and determined hearted immigrant who has come to the United States to study, rounding out the timely additions of love, support, and security when Abasiama needed them the most.

Through and through this is Abasiama’s story and she glows.  Her kindness, her sisterhood, her strength, her worthiness, and the realization of her American Dream, guide her decisions—which is the catalyst behind the entire Ufot Cycle.

Her Portmanteau

Her “portmanteau”, or red suitcase, makes a return as 30 years have passed.  Abasiama now has two daughters, one raised in America and the other who has come from Nigeria to reconnect with her family.

This is a good moment to mention that each story is informed by the other, but can certainly stand alone on substance, content, and the amazing direction of Ed Sylvanus Iskandar.  The staging is exciting and deliberate, while minimal, putting the full focus on the tension and growth to be expected of a family reunited after a substantial amount of time and distance.

Chinasa Ogbuagu returns to the stage, this time as the American-born daughter, Adiagha Ufot, Adepero Oduye as Iniabasi Ekpeyoung (Ukpong and Abasiama’s daughter), and Jenny Jules as the mother, Abasiama Ufot.

Seated on a couch in Adiagha’s small New York Apartment, no amount of preparation readies your mind and spirit to form the words to make up for 30 years of life, connection, and memories missed.  We’re taken on a ride of resentment, hurt, love, and forgiveness, as the portmanteau is literally unpacked.  We watch the teeter-tottering between offense and defense as one sister tries to assimilate into American culture, and the other attempts, albeit stubbornly, to fall in formation in honoring a family she shares blood with, but little time or tangible history.

It’s powerful to see a story of history and continuing a legacy despite lost time, faulty promises, and difficult choices explored with an all-woman cast as far too often the idea of legacy is framed in patriarchy.  Jules admirably takes Abasiama through the fire to heal, to feel, and to fix her family.  The narrative allows us to empathize and understand the struggle that comes with upholding family values versus cultivating a space to achieve personal dreams and happiness.

Her Portmanteau (and Sojourners) is written in a way that finds your soul, gently massaging it with humor, while leaving it with very real questions.  I’ve never felt a greater need to binge read nine stories and simultaneously study the story of my own family tree. I left changed. I left wrapped in the strength of my mom and my mom’s- mom’s sacrifice.  I left pensive and with seeds of future forgiveness planted.  I left changed.

For capturing our hearts with wit and with truth.  For putting Black women at the center of a poignant narrative.  For unapologetically telling a story you haven’t seen told and telling it in the way you want it to be told.

We thank you Mfoniso.  We thank you.

Have you seen the #duetplays? Sound off in the comments below![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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A Must See

Our Story in 2 Plays for 1 Price: Mfoniso Udofia’s Sojourners & Her Portmanteau

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Last winter, we reported on Sojourners by playwright Mfoniso Udofia, a new play about a Nigerian family who has come to America with the goal of earning a college education, starting a family, and returning to Nigeria. But not without the twists and turns that come along with every plan that seems straightforward.

Image result for Sojourners and Her Portmanteau

Thanks to New York Theatre Workshop, we get to relive this moment and continue the dialogue, decades later, with Her Portmanteau. Performed in repertory, these two chapters of Udofia’s sweeping, nine-part saga, The Ufot Cycle, chronicle the triumphs and losses of the tenacious matriarch of a Nigerian family.

Ed Sylvanus Iskandar directs the two-part story in association with The Playwrights Realm, who premiered Sojourners last winter in a limited engagement world premiere production. Her Portmanteau also received the 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award grant.

The cast includes Jenny JulesLakisha Michelle MayAdepero OduyeChinasa OgbuaguHubert Point-Du Jour, and Chinaza Uche.

As if that wasn’t enough to get excited about, we have an exclusive deal for our Broadway Black readers!

Our Story in 2 Plays for 1 Price!

Yes. That’s two shows for one price! The discount code BWYBLACK will take 50% off tickets to ANY performance(s) if purchased by May 15th! 

Go ahead and grab your tickets. We have ours!

Sojourners and Her Portmanteau plays at NYTW until June 4th.

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