A powerful theatrical testament by Keenan Scott II, THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN weaves spoken word, slam poetry and rhythm into a mosaic of the inner lives of Black men, and heralds the arrival of an essential new voice to the American Theater.
A hope for the future arrives in the final moments of 'Thoughts of a Colored Man,' a dutiful and expansive cataloguing of its title subject by Keenan Scott II. 'I can't wait for the day when my skin isn't a novelty,' a man known as Happiness, played by Bryan Terrell Clark, tells the audience. It's as much a self-conscious commentary on the playwright's own project as on the broader experience of Black men in America. That's the sprawling, diffuse subject that Scott ambitiously inventories here, in a series of vignettes, run-ins and soliloquies set in a gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood over the course of a single day. Under the able direction of Steve H. Broadnax III, Scott's poetic distillations gleam with insights and vulnerabilities of heart and mind.
Like Shange's seven all-female characters (called the Lady in Red, the Lady in Blue, etc. after the color of their costumes) who told the stories of Black women's lives through poetry, song and dance, Scott's seven all-male characters (called Anger, Lust, Happiness and other emotions or character traits) tell the stories of Black men's lives through spoken word poetry, and occasional song (sung, beautifully, by Luke James.). But like the various series in which the cast members have performed, 'Thoughts of a Colored Man' also presents credible characters in more or less straightforward scenes - watching a basketball game and bickering in a neighborhood barbershop (the best scene), working or shopping at a grocery store, discussing women while waiting endlessly for a bus, waiting at a hospital maternity ward, coaching basketball in a school gym, shooting the breeze on a line to get the latest Air Jordans.
| 2021 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music in a Play | Te'La |
| 2022 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | Sven Ortel |
| 2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | John Gassner Award | Keenan Scott II |
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