she like girls

I felt it necessary to comment on my performance in She Like Girls…. It renewed my joy in acting. This is something I definitely want to pursue in life. The story behind it is actually quite interesting. It’s all thanks to a fellow NYU grad student, and author of the play, Chisa Hutchingson – whom I’m quite sure I’ve become quite smitten with on several occasions… No matter! Here goes the story:

It was right before another class and, as what often happens, there was an impromptu yet instinctual gathering of Black students in the common area of the seventh floor of Tisch. We had all begun to give our life stories of how we had come to find ourselves at Tisch, and I off-handedly mentioned that I entered playwriting through my interest in acting during my undergrad year and…. Maybe I should put this in play form – 

Scene 1

7th Floor of Tisch.

CHISA So! You used to act…

PAUL Yes… yes I did. 

CHISA Do you still  act????

PAUL Well, sometimes…is that – is that offensive to you? (Mumbles the following to himself.) Cuz I could just say I don’t act anymore. I mean it makes sense, like we’re goin to school for playwriting so I guess I should focus on that. Just don’t – please stop looking at me like that – 

CHISA Would you actually like to be in my play?

PAUL …. (To himself.) Awesome. 

And with that I had the opportunity to audition for the premiere of the award-winning Off-Off Broadway play “She Like Girls.” How I got the part, well… 

Being a young Black man has various strange and not so welcoming aspects. One of which, is the specter of “true” Black Identity. Attending an all-White (seriously all White) private school while living in Jennings, Missouri (Predominantly Black) allowed me 22 years of training for the part of Andre, the thuggish male best friend. To be honest, I hated having to “act Black” while growing up, but if it saved me a few less joan sessions (I guess in other places they call it fryin/joshin/jonesin/etc) then it was well worth it. 

In the end, my real voice is just a plain mixture of  both my private school upbringing, a Jamaican father, a southern Black mother, and a predominately Black Midwestern neighborhood. Which makes sense on paper. But very few people understand it that way. It’s often easier to imagine things in absolutes. So I’m either expected to behavior thuggishly or as a complete Uncle Tom.  I went off-subject didn’t I?

Nevertheless, I got the part for Andre. A few performances, nominations, and high-profile articles later; the show is still showing me how much of an impact it had on my life. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jan 16, 2010

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