Our ancestors were killed for reading, our children wouldn’t read if you killed them
The latest in an occasional series of theatre reviews...
For Black Boys... : Apollo Theatre
Or, as you probably know it - For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy. Which sounds like a giggle, doesn't it? This did a run at the New Diorama Theatre (never heard of it) last year which was generally well received (except by The Guardian, it seems), then it transferred to the Royal Court Theatre (which I have heard of, but couldn't tell you where it is) and now it's transferred here. And it sounded like a proper play, so I thought I'd have some of that.
And, well, the Apollo looks different tonight from last time I was here - checking back, I see this is the fourth time I've been here in a year! The audience also looks very different from they usually do and I'll give you, oooh three seconds, to consider why that might be - we'll come back to that later.
The curtain comes up to reveal a darkened set on which an unknown number of people are dancing in a very contemporary style for a surprising length of time - and then the lights go up to reveal there are six of them on a set which is surprisingly un-red - it looks like a group therapy session, for the very good reason that that's (probably) what it is. At least in the first half, anyway. Everyone (I think) revisited some episode of their youth and how it affected them. I guess the idea is that they all relate to "the black experience" (whatever that is), but I found a lot of them to be relatable (it's possible I'm not the blackest person alive). Yes, the sections on police harassment and "the N word" did have a definite racial element, but there was a common thread of isolation and lack of acceptance running through them which are things I think we all feel from time to time, at least.
After a surprisingly short first half, the curtain rises to a second half which appears to be set in an eighties nightclub (for no obvious reason) and the general idea of contributions from each member of the group continues - but, in the second half (which is MUCH longer than the first), the theme is more along the lines of love and acceptance in adulthood. It also features a lot of singing - some of which is very impressively cheesy in an R and B style indeed. I was worried that the play wasn't going to work out how to end, but it did an acceptable job of tying things up - if somewhat ambiguously (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, depending upon your point of view).
Minor spoiler alert warning for the next paragraph (which sounds a lot worse than it is in terms of enjoying the play)
I was pleasingly confused by the ending, but I was intrigued as to what other people thought about it so I asked a few people on the way out. The general consensus was that they had all actually died by suicide and the play was a breakdown of reasons for that - but the reviews I've read suggest the critics thought they were all survivors of suicide attempts and the therapy had saved them. Whereas I, somewhat contrarily, thought the situation was somewhere between the two and some had died and some had survived, but I had absolutely no idea whether we supposed to be able to work out who was who. So who knows exactly what was supposed to have "happened" - but, as I said, it really didn't matter in the slightest.
Spoiler alert over!
It's all very well acted - there's a lot of words, singing and a sprinkling of dancing in there and all six members of the cast are on stage at all times. Everyone gets a chance to shine - for me Emmanuel Akwafo and Nnabiko Ejimofor were the most impressive but it's possible they were just lucky getting the bits of the play that most chimed with me. It was also well directed, with good use of lighting, sound and music to accentuate the drama. There were some very touching and some very shocking moments, but it was also pleasingly funny at times (although I have to admit there were quite a few jokes that went way over my head). There were also (unsurprisingly) a load of cultural references that I missed, but it was nice to hear the audience react to them.
Because, yes, the audience was slightly different from those I've normally shared the theatre with over the past year - I would say it was about 75% black. The guy next to me was absolutely HUGE and barely fit in to the seat - but, massively subverting potential stereotypes, he'd travelled down from Cambridge where he was studying Physics. Whilst on the other side I had two early twenties girls who'd never been to theatre before and were loving every minute of it. And who was the most annoying person in theatre? The (white) girl in front of me who KEPT leaning forward which meant I couldn't see anything of the play at times - aaaargggh! But it was nice to see a slightly different mix of people out at the theatre.
Overall, I enjoyed this - it was well acted with some great moments in it, plenty to think about and a nicely ambiguous ending which leaves you with the experience that you've watched a "proper play". It's kinda obvious to say but it drove home the message that there's no one "black experience" - yes, there are shared experiences which are specifically black (or at least non-white) but most experiences relate to us all and opening up and talking about them is no bad thing. It's only on for another couple of weeks but there are still tickets left - it won't be for everyone, but I thought it was a good night out.
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