Black Clown was presented at the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater on July 24th, 2019
“Rise from the bottom,
Out of the slime! Look at the stars yonder calling through!”
-Black Clown by Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes’ Black Clown puts into words the mixture of emotions that comes with being Black but also being a performer while Black. As a Black performer you carry the weight of the great performers before you, the struggles they faced, and the effort it takes to break into the industry. Out of this history comes joy, hope, and the opportunity to rise. Davone Tines & Michael Schacter’s adaptation of Hughes’ poetry takes the audience on a visually stunning audio-history from bondage into freedom.
Hughes’ poem is a story of growth. Growth of the Black man and growth of Black people in general. Tines and Schacter capture this growth through the use of the The Black Clown and the Ensemble as storytellers. They display the state of the Black man through enslavement, emancipation, Jim Crow, and the present day. The stage shifts as the characters experience each emotion. At times the proscenium is lit with the bright bulbs of a Broadway billboard. At other times, a single spotlight is all there is to illuminate the struggle the character is going through. Other moments use shadow puppetry to create Kara Walker style silhouettes and give the illusion of more bodies on stage. The climb to the top is represented by an illuminated ladder that descends from the sky. The Black Clown attempts to climb it, never reaching the top. The effect is gripping imagery that you cannot take your eyes from.
Throughout the piece the ensemble acts as voices of affirmation, ancestors and family, and passers by to our narrator, the Black Clown. Their role is that of the Black community. In them, the Black Clown finds comfort, connection, and the means to go on. Some moments in which we see the most pain and suffering are in fact the moments when the Black Clown is alone. As is true for so many of us, this community is an island of safety in the grief. The undeniable message is one cannot grow without the support of their community.
Black Clown was a beautiful production that will leave you feeling triumphant and ready to take on the world. The productions’ use of silhouette and shadow play with the recurrent themes of anger, sadness, joy, and hope. The music follows this emotional roller coaster intertwining with the poetry and age-old lyrics to Negro spirituals. The cast provides a strong performance with riffs, runs, and harmonies that bring you to church. The effect is a soul-grabbing musical theatre piece that speaks to the growth of Black people and hope for the future.