The Bay Area is enjoying a renaissance of black theatre, perhaps in conjunction with Black History Month: NCTC's Dot, MTC's Pass Over and now Shotgun Players' spectacular revival of Passing Strange, the Tony, Obie, and Drama Critics Circle Award winning musical. First premiered by Berkeley Rep in 2006, the story chronicles a young middle class black man's journey to self-discovery through an explosion of witty dialogue, eye popping visuals, a magical, multi-genre score, and brilliant ensemble performances.
I first saw Stew in 2012 and was awed by his songwriting style - a hybrid of rock, soul, funk, and traditional musical theatre. In Passing Strange his protagonist known only as Youth (Devin Cunnigham) is pushed by his mom (Rolanda D. Bell) into the Baptist church scene. His passion for music allows him to join the church choir run by the Preacher's gay son Franklin (a star-making performance by Shakur Tolliver), but Youth wants more and starts a punk band.
Youth and his pals (Myles Brown, Angel Adedokun, Chanel Tilghman and Shakur Tolliver) experiment with pot, rebel against Franklin and drop acid in some hilarious first act scenes. Stew's script is smart and poignant highlighted in a scene where the extremely high Franklin opines on the need to travel to Europe to experience 'the real". "Asked by Youth where he's been, Franklin sadly says nowhere. He's chained to the church by his father and in a heartbreaking confession says, "Slaves have options, cowards have consequences."
So, it's off to Amsterdam for Youth where he falls in with sex workers, hippies, and stoners (again the talented ensemble in multiple roles) and falls in love. There's a hilarious parody of European Avant Garde cinema before he moves on to pre-Berlin Wall fall Berlin. There, Youth adopts a streetwise persona to impress the members of his anti-capitalist revolutionary commune. He's 'passing strange', taken from a line in Othello where a black man navigates a white world. Again, he falls in love, believes he's found his "real," but "too much desire gets boring". Once again Shakur Tolliver steals a scene as an over-the-top impassioned performance artist who growls the mantra "What's inside is just a lie."
A narrator (Albert Hodge) provides exposition to the story and the music is provided by a three-man group headed by Musical Director/keyboardist Daniel Alley. It was hard to keep my eyes off dreadlocked guitarist Bennett Hull with his smile and tastefully shredding guitar lines. Jasmine Milan Williams' costumes are a wonder as she moves us through church, hippie, and neo-punk styles. The talented cast is superb, each owning and inhabiting their characters giving the show its credibility and authenticity. Director William Thomas Hodgson lifts the material to extraordinary heights with assistance from intimacy choreographer Jeunee Simon. For Hodgson, Passing Strange is a labor of love that spoke to his "nerdy, counterculture Black self"."
Youth's journey doesn't quite seem fulfilled, and he's eventually drawn home. The question posed here is where art and reality cross. Youth can't seem to finish his love songs because he really never commits to loving a girl. Sometimes art replaces reality and that's a choice each artist must decide. Passing Strange is just as vibrant and au courant as when it first premiered and has that sense of importance that Rent, Hair or Hedwig had when they were created.
Passing Strange continues through April 23rd, 2022. Tickets available at shotgunplayers.org or by calling 415.755.8162
Photo credit: Ben Krantz
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