Review: For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy, Garrick Theatre - seamless theatre
11/03/2024
For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy is a play of experiences told as a seamless stream of stories.
But the play itself has its own story. This is the second West End run for Nouveau Riche's production in just over 12 months, but it started with a sell-out run at the bijou New Diorama Theatre in Euston back in 2021. It then transferred to the Royal Court before securing its first stint in the West End at the Apollo Theatre.
It is a dream come true for any theatre production and a much-deserved success. This is an exceptional piece of theatre.
Written by Ryan Calais Cameron, the play is divided roughly into two main acts with a third shorter concluding act.
The first half is served up with a rap soundtrack focusing on black boy experiences from school, among friends and peers and at home.
It's like an informal therapy session, different characters sharing different experiences which get picked over by the rest of the group.
They discuss how it has shaped their outlook and approach to life. It isn't formal but rather a dialogue peppered with revealing banter and teasing. There is agreement and disagreement, empathy and sometimes fights.
The second half shifts with R&B as the soundtrack. It focuses on the same group's experiences of sex, relationships and sexuality.
And the final act highlights how those experiences affect mental health.
What For Black Boys does so well is mix tough and difficult themes with a piece of theatre that is utterly absorbing, entertaining, and sometimes toe-tapping. It has a broad thematic scope in the range of experiences and situations it shares, yet it never loses sight of the individual human experience.
The performers deliver six distinct characters while working seamlessly as an ensemble to bring each scenario to life.
By the end I'd laughed, learned, cried, been horrified and lifted by the play. And for that, I'm giving it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
For Black Boys... Garrick Theatre
Written and directed by Ryan Calais Cameron
Tobi King Bakare plays Onyx
Shakeel Haakim plays Pitch
Fela Lufadeju plays Jet
Albert Magashi plays Sable
Mohammed Mansaray plays Obsidian
Posi Morakinyo plays Midnight
Booking until 4 May; for more information and tickets, visit the Nimex Theatre's website
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