For Black Boys review: A poignant meditation on black masculinity and mental health
This trailblazing Olivier-nominated hit, whose full title is For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy, is absolutely worth the hype.
Confessional, vulnerable and important, For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy has taken over London’s West End – and for good reason.
The play started at the fringe theatre The New Diorama (interestingly enough, the same theatre where the roaring success Operation Mincemeat first took to the stage) before moving on to the Royal Court Theatre and then the Apollo Theatre. Now For Black Boys is enjoying its second West End run in under a year at its new home in the Garrick Theatre.
The first thing to note is that this is not a play in the traditional sense of the word. For Black Boys is a choreopoem, blending dialogue with poetry, song, music, dance and movement. Each element is a key part of the production, which could also be described as a series of interconnected monologues separated by and infused with music, dance and movement.
This non-traditional form echoes the inspiration for For Black Boys, Ntozake Shange’s 1975 For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, a seminal work which also takes the form of a choreopoem, discussing the intersectional experience of seven black women of the diaspora.
Drawing on these ideas, For Black Boys loosely takes the form of a group therapy session, with a group of young black men sharing their experiences and the way that they’ve shaped their ideas of black masculinity and black British identity. We see young black men with different personalities, interests and backgrounds discuss their unique struggles, reminding the audience that the black experience is not a monolith.
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Ryan Calais Cameron is a master of the tonal shift, with the script shifting in a heartbeat from laugh-out-loud moments to lines that read like a gut punch. In other hands this could seem like diminishing the matter at hand, but with this playwright, it only serves to heighten the nuances of the stories.
The issues that For Black Boys touches on are too numerous to name, but include abandonment, queer identity, domestic abuse, social mobility, colourism, police brutality and shame. Yet despite this long list of heavy topics, it never feels crowded or like any topic is not given its due diligence.
Not only that, the play still manages to retain an air of lightness, as well as being packed full of genuinely hilarious moments, from an exchange of cheesy pickup lines to a well-timed Power Rangers reference.
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This 2024 production of For Black Boys features a brand-new cast. Speaking about the decision behind the new casting, Ryan Calais Cameron said: “You can’t say this is for Black boys and not have another set of young men get to experience this. It’ll feel completely different; any man that ever comes into this play will give us a bit of themselves.”
The energy and vulnerability that each cast member pours into their character is almost indescribable, and the relationships between each character feel natural and real. The six men interact seamlessly, like friends and like brothers. Performances from Tobi King Bakare as the complicated and hardened Onyx and Shakeel Haakim as the dorky and endearing Pitch are particular highlights.
The performers also get to bust out their acting chops playing other roles in flashback interactions, as characters from stern fathers to love-struck teenage girls, before snapping back to their original roles in a heartbeat. It’s an impressive feat, especially watching the unbridled boyish joy of the actors playing children quickly transform into the vulnerability and pain of young men.
All in all, this play is a celebration; of resilience, yes, but more so of black joy, self-acceptance and of brotherhood. As the characters say in unison: “And now I see God in you, and you in me. I see a king in you. And now I love me!”
Buy tickets to see For Black Boys at London Theatre Direct
Buy tickets to see For Black Boys at TodayTix
When and where can I see For Black Boys?
For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy has extended its run at the Garrick Theatre and is now booking until 1st June 2024. You can catch a show every day of the week except Sunday, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The Garrick Theatre is within walking distance of Leicester Square, Charing Cross and Covent Garden tube stations, and is easily accessible via a number of bus routes.
Buy tickets to see For Black Boys at London Theatre Direct
Buy tickets to see For Black Boys at TodayTix
How to get tickets to see For Black Boys
Tickets are available to buy now from a number of ticket retailers, including London Theatre Direct and TodayTix.
Prices start from £23 at TodayTix and £25 at London Theatre Direct and can vary depending on the seats you choose.
Buy tickets to see For Black Boys at London Theatre Direct
