REVIEW | Choir Boy, Bristol Old Vic

Reviews

23 Oct

`The cast of Choir Boy. Credit: Camilla Greenwell`

Written by Beth.

*Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in return for an honest review

Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy debuted at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012. More than a decade later, new artistic director Nancy Medina has revived the play as part of the Bristol Old Vic’s autumn season.

Choir Boy is a play that follows five boys through a year at Charles R Drew Prep School, an elite private school in America that comes with all the pressure and expectations you would expect from such a setting. Tensions are almost immediately established as during the opening scene Bobby (Alistair Nwachukwu) uses a homophobic slur in an attempt to put off Pharus (Terique Jarrettt) in his debut performance as choir lead. Pharus’s battle to live up to the expectations of the school and suppress his queer identity is a constant theme throughout the play that ultimately comes to a head in the second act. This internal battle is not one unique to him either, as the pressures of upholding the honour of being a ‘Drew Man’ are something felt by all five boys.

Themes of race, prejudice, and spirituality, as well as sexuality, are all navigated by the students throughout the play. And when tradition tries and fails to bring together these students as ‘Drew Men’; it is in the gospel music that punctuates these emotive scenes that they set aside their differences and come together in unity. Each of the hymns and spirituals is flawlessly performed and heightens the emotion of the play strikingly.

In addition to the use of music throughout, the structure of the play isn’t completely conventional. Each scene change brings a new event in the school year, providing snapshots into the student’s lives rather than a comprehensive, continuous plot. Initially, this meant it took a little while for me to fully invest in the story. However, as the pace picked up and the second act took a dramatic turn, the slower set-up in the first act made the final scenes a very poignant watch.

Moreover, this isn’t to say that the audience are only given glimpses into the emotions of the characters. Quite the opposite. There was depth and insight afforded into each of the five students’ lives. In addition to Pharus’s struggles with his sexuality, we see a vulnerability in a grieving Bobby, naivety in the amusing JR (Khalid Daley), and a crippling fear of disappointing his parents in David (Michael Ahomka-Lindsay). AJ (Jyuddah Jaymes) meanwhile brings a sense of maturity to the group but is still plagued by his own guilt.

I’ve never seen a play that so successfully creates five rounded, yet raw characters. There is no traditional ‘antagonist’, every character is flawed and, thus, feels authentically human. McCraney’s success in this is, arguably, what makes Choir Boy such an emotive and stirring piece to watch.

Choir Boy is playing at the Bristol Old Vic until 11th November.

For more information and tickets visit: https://bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/choir-boy