![]() ![]() A scene at Wisdom’s old-school barbershop gathers the guys in a rare group interaction, more toward the purpose of traversing a roadmap of pressing social issues - redlining, the tyrannies of Black consumerism, homophobia - than generating character-driven drama. Scott favors language - verse, rhythm, rhyme - over action, and the men expound on their interior lives more often into the middle distance than in dynamic relation to one another. On a set by Robert Brill featuring a giant billboard as a kind of blank canvas, our primary encounters with each man come in the form of direct address, through which their backstories and resulting perspectives are mostly spelled out rather than illustrated. You can get your tickets to Thoughts of a Colored Man here.Most of the men know each other from around the neighborhood (Fort Greene or nearby, for eyes trained on Sven Ortel’s projections), and Scott hangs the play’s chronology on quotidian happenstance: a morning jog, a midday work break, coaching after-school basketball. I wanted to show each of them, and all of us, in our totality.” “With these seven men, I wanted to show the spectrum of black male existence. “Too often Black men are portrayed as monoliths, based on stereotypes and tropes - the super athlete or the supercriminal,” he says. In an interview with Vogue, he lays out why this production is so important. They influenced Keenan to be authentic in his work. His influences are August Wilson and Katori Hall. He developed the play as an undergrad and over a decade leaned on the financial support of family and friends to make his dream of becoming an acclaimed creator come true. Keenan Scott II got his start as a slam poet. Thoughts of a Colored Man begins performances at the theatre today, Friday, October 1, 2021. Broadnax III in front of the John Golden Theatre. Due to COVID-19, the play had to move from its tentative release date in 2020 to an October premiere.įrom left: Playwright Keenan Scott II, producer Brian Moreland, director Steve H. He then put on regional productions at Syracuse Stage and Baltimore Center Stage. Playwright Keenan Scott II workshopped the play at The Arena Stage and New York Theatre Workshop. Thoughts of a Colored Man’s journey to Broadway was a long time coming. The audience will see these men as complete human beings. The seven black men in this piece are allowed to be themselves. Thoughts of a Colored Man incorporates spoken word, slam poetry, and rhythm. Each character is allegorical: love, lust, passion, anger, wisdom, happiness, and depression. These men will share their unfiltered thoughts about themselves and the issues that surround them. The play stars Esau Pritchett, Dyllón Burnside, Luke James, Tristan ‘Mack’ Wilds, Da’Vinchi, Bryan Terrell Clark, and Forrest McClendon. The play tells the story of seven black men in a gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn. Thoughts of a Colored Man is playwright Keenan Scott II’s Broadway debut. This month, Broadway returns with an exciting new play that is poetic, timely, and groundbreaking. “Show the spectrum of black male existence.” Photo courtesy of Thoughts of a Colored Man. Thoughts of a Colored Man playwright Keenan Scott (far left), actor Luke James (front left), and actor Tristan ‘Mack’ Wilds (front center) hosting a youth and community event at the Caste Hill YMCA in the Bronx and the North Brooklyn YMCA, where community members can receive a free haircut at a mobile barbershop.
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