At A Real "Nigga" Show, latecomers are yelled at.They are herded into seats while the punctual members of the audience look on and laugh. Of course it is all done in fun. Like life, this show must be taken with a sense of humor, and with flexibility. The audience is moved from hilarity to horrible truth and back, within seconds.
The title is enough for anyone to know that the show will be controversial, and probably difficult to take in. It may be too much for the insufferably politically correct, the self-righteous, or the easily offended viewer. For many, it is difficult to fully understand, particularly for those who have not grown up in lower class, black neighborhoods. Jokes and insinuations are tossed around easily, to be interpreted by each audience member individually. But anyone who has lived in the USA, and who has a slight understanding of the condition of society, both today and in the past, will understand and appreciate the show on some level. At the very least, the message delivered is universally applicable.
Performed by six African-American men, the piece portrays the numerous stereotypes behind the word "nigga," as well as the truth of what it is like to live with those stereotypes. It is a Choreopoem, combining, words, rhythm, and music, and ranging in form from interpretive dance to rap. Thirty-two sketches are presented, some flowing out of each other, and others punctuated with an interlude for music or quotes concerning the word "nigger" or life as a black person in the USA. Five of the actors co-wrote the play, along with Anthony Brockenbrough and the director, Troy Burton. Each of the co-writers brought to the show his own experience and creativity, writing the segments individually or in collaboration.
The show addresses a wide range of topics, from exploitation in the music industry to true love, or from the prideful banter of old black men to the psychological trauma of a sexually, mentally, and physically abused child. Military service, personal experience, and permanent loss of love of a son for a father are presented in a candid light, making deep impressions. Likewise, slang, educated black men and sex are mocked with piercing wit. Stereotypes that in everyday life would be shocking and flagrantly offensive are ridiculed and caricaturized. It is comedy, but bittersweet and moving.
A series of sketches entitled "You Thought I Was Him" are scattered throughout the piece. In each of these segments, the actors remind the audience that what they have been watching are, inescapably, stereotypes, hurtfully applied to African-Americans every day. By the very act of laughing and recognizing everything presented, the audience has already admitted to subscribing to the stereotypes on some level, showing that they too are guilty of judging by the color of a man's skin. The viewer must admit to him or herself this fact, realizing that we, as a society are still so very far away from true equality.
All of the actors are locally based, and most of them were born and raised in Baltimore. Most came to acting through the Arena Players, Baltimore's African-American community theater. Some are students, though most are professional actors. Among the professional actors, many have roles in HBO's series The Wire, a drama about tough city streets set in Baltimore. But credentials seem moot when one watches the show.
What is captivating is the genuine spirit of each of the actors. Individually, they have unique personalities, but what they share is a common pain that they need to transmit to the audience. The pain is sometimes mixed with outrage, sometimes mixed with fear, and always mixed with pride. For many members of the audience, having shared the experience of living as a black person in the USA, this pain might be a reflection of their own personal experience. Those who have not had similar experiences will be affected in an array of different ways. Many will empathize, having had similar, though still slightly different, experiences in their lives. And all must feel some responsibility for being citizens of a country in which there is still injustice, still intolerance and hate, and still exploitation of one segment of society by another.
However, there is also a message of unity. For all of the different types of black people caricaturized in the show, they remain, all of them, black. The question is asked, "What is a brother?" and the answer is made that all African-American men are each others' brothers, and need to start treating each other as such. The show encourages people to ignore the divisive influences that try to keep one type of black man from respecting and loving another type. This explains the use of the word "nigga." By taking away the "er" ending of the original word, and adding an "a," a derogatory term has been transformed into a word often used affectionately in slang.
Ultimately, it is not only latecomers who are accosted at A Real "Nigga" Show. The production entertains, but it also points out each individual's responsibility as a human being. When, as an individual, one decides to buy a ticket to a show in which the "n-word" will be used very frequently, one chooses to be challenged. And the more people are challenged, the more our society may allow itself to hope for improvement.
