Ryan Calais Cameron was inspired to write his choreopoem, a fantasia about Black life in Britain, after he had seen Ntoxake Shange’s For Coloured Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enut.
A choreopoem, a term created by Shange, is a form of dramatic expression that combines poetry, dance, music and song. It does not contain specific plot elements or characters, but instead focuses on creating an emotional response from the audience.
‘I wanted,’ said Cameron, ‘to hand Black men back their humanity. It’s about language and Black culture, how Black people express themselves, how young Black people articulate when words fail.’
Ten years in the making, the performance is about being authentically and unapologetically Black and reaching out to Black audiences.
For Black Boys started in a small fringe theatre, transferred to the Royal Court Theatre and then transferred to the West End, first to the Apollo Theatre and now to the Garrick Theatre.
The setting is a group therapy session. Six young men let their hearts and imaginations run wild. The poetic text is a series of episodes and monologue confessions, the latter often spoken directly to the audience, in which they open up about manhood and their perceptions of masculinity and their vulnerability.
The choreopoem, comic and serious, lively and passionate, is directed by Cameron. The six talented actors, who also sing and dance, have an appealing, good-humoured boyish energy and urgency.
Black audiences are turning up in large numbers at the Garrick Theatre and such is the popular demand, the run has already been extended.
To learn more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews, click here to go to his website. 
