Kohl
Martin, 24, has a wild amber Afro and sterling blue
eyes.
Then
there’s Larenzo Allen, 23. He’s tall, lean, wears Converse and
habitually tucks his hands in his jeans.
Sean
Turner, 34, has the face of a bulldog with his keen eyes and bold
cheekbones. He has “STL” tattooed on his bicep, along with the
names in his family tree.
And
definitely not the least of the group, there’s Curtis Royston, 42,
and Milton Holmes Jr., 63. Both are community activists whose faces
beam with hope and passion.
All five
African-American men make up the cast of the
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>Vagina MANologues
written by Jackie Masei and presented by Playback Workshop
Theatre.
This
original show takes the stage on March 4 and runs through March 13
at the Phyllis Wheatley Heritage Center, 2711 Locust Ave., in
midtown. Audience members must be 16 years of age, as actors cuss
at times in the show.
The
explicit name of the show is adapted from
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>Vagina Monologues
Ensler, which previously has been adapted for African-American
women in St. Louis as
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>Pocketbook Dialogues
Masei, a
veteran teaching artist of 23 years, based the script on her
personal experiences with sexism and racism. The dialogues or
“manologues” between the five men explore aspects of race,
sexuality, spirituality and gender.
The idea
for the script first came when local artist and musician David A.N.
Jackson, a former Playback contributor, suggested that an all
African-American male cast perform the original
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>Vagina Monologues
Masei took the script beyond exploring only female
sexuality.
“For me,
it changed when Jackie and I had a one-on-one and I realized that
these were real stories,” Martin said. “For me, these lines have to
be delivered in a way that will honor Jackie.”
The idea
of “honoring” a person’s
story comes from the tradition of Playback Theatre. In a Playback
show, the actors ask audience members to share their stories and
then they “playback” their memories through improvisational acting
techniques.
In the
play, the character Saxophone Jesus will read Masei’s memories as
“parables.” The messages in the parables respond to the dialogues
among the men. The play doesn’t follow a typical linear storyline,
as actors switch roles here and there. The audience has to watch
carefully to catch the nuances.
Martin
plays the role of Saxophone Jesus, and hearing Jackie’s stories has
given him courage, he said. Martin’s girlfriend, Melissa Godar, who
assists in the play, has also noticed.
“I think a
lot of people who go through struggles sometimes crumble,” Godar
said. “He is learning from Jackie to be stronger and gain strength
from struggle.”
Royston, a
first-time actor, plays the role of a bully in several scenes – a
stark change from his life as an activist with groups such as the
Organization for Black Struggle.
“In the
activist work I do, I’m often antagonized,” he said. “It helps me
understand where that person might be coming from so there isn’t
that hate that swells up.”
Turner,
who also plays a bully, said he’s typically the person who stands
up for the underdog. He has been acting with Playback for two
years.
“We’ve
heard so many people’s stories, and we’ve had people cry on stage,”
Turner said. “We’ve cried on stage. We’re poisoning people’s brains
with good.”
Playback
has performed the stories of people at schools, universities,
churches, companies and within the refugee community. Masei founded
the St. Louis company in 2005, after teaching and performing with
another company for 10 years. Masei’s dark skin comes from her
African-American mother and her Samoan father.
This show
is about risk-taking ideas for the community “to open up and go
past,” she said.
She uses
the example of a teenager who is acting out verbally. Perhaps an
adult chooses to zone in on the cussing and chastise that child
about the language, rather looking at the root of the
problem.
“The adult
is refusing to address the larger message,” she said. “That human
is crying out so loud to communicate something, and yet they will
make a very clear decision
to look only at the surface.”
“mso-spacerun: yes;”>
Martin
first witnessed a Playback show when his dad urged him to go to
Homegrown: St. Louis’
Organic Racism. After hearing the story of another bi-racial
man in the audience who went through hell growing up, he was moved
and inspired.
“I hope
that this opens people’s eyes,” he said. “Don’t worry about the
fact that I’m swearing. Get around the language and focus on the
message.”
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>
“font-family: Verdana;”>The Vagina MANologues takes place March 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13 at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays at the Phyllis Wheatley Heritage Center, 2711 Locust. Tickets are $15. For more information, call 397-0733.
