Version 2 of WORD BECOMES FLESH is a muscular and masculine expression of Sweat & Testosterone to the Fifth Power! Justine Weaks sets the tone and tempo from Jump Street with a message of, “Welcome to the Spoken Word”!
What follows is NON-STOP fast break of five dynamic players who weave HIP HOP rhymes, HBCU step show moves, and baseline-to-baseline manic action like a well oil team of point guards and power forwards.
Their message that every black man has to start the day running for his life has an immediate impact as the WBF Five call on the spirits of young dead soldiers in Ferguson, Orlando, Cleveland and Minneapolis. And brilliant director Psalmayene 24 uses every square inch of the Anacostia Playhouse’s intimate black box stage to deliver the prophetic words of playwright Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s defining statement on the pain and pleasure of Black male existence in contemporary times.
He also steals a page from Melvin Van Peebles ‘Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song’ as Clayton Pelham seamlessly shifts the theme to ‘Scent of potential sex’ and shares the pain and pleasure of the ruthless pursuit of Punani that drives young men’s lives of sexual conquest without consequences.(c) 2017 Malcolm Lewis Barnes photos and content.
Then Chris Lane and Louis Davis do a deep dive into the Legacy of HIP HOP and its hard, fast and mean spirited musical messages as they Pop and Lock their way across the stage until Gary Perkins reminds everyone of how black men ‘Gave up on Good Music’ as they transform the stage like ‘FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE’ and glide through MOTOWN moves that remind the audience of the romantic songs of the 1970s, 80s and 90s that the baby makers used to get next to their love interests!
But when all was said and done, the reality of fatherhood brings the story full circle as a Grandfather’s premonition results in the birth of a young black man child as WORD BECOMES FLESH! The Theater Alliance will host a series of Art, Dialogue & Action sessions following future performances during the WBF’s month-long run with a series of new works , conversations, and community workshop to explore the diversity of the African Diaspora.
