For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy – Reviews

"A landmark moment in West End theatre"

"Ryan Calais Cameron's ultimately feelgood show, now at the Apollo, is an inspiration"

"... its arrival in the West End (having begun life at fringe venue the New Diorama) feels like a huge moment, suggesting a generational breakthrough for black British playwrights in theatreland, and bolstered by it having been nominated as the Best New Play at the Olivier Awards."

"Cameron gives us a free-form series of vignettes, punctuated with bouts of urban song and dance. These involve half a dozen young black men who, as if partaking in group therapy, unfold the fracturing experience of living in the city, with pressures of masculinity, family, society and history bearing down on them."

"A feelgood show that plumbs the depths, then, and a choral cry to be heard that leaves you inspired not browbeaten. Not bad for a West End debut."

"Note-perfect actors in a dreamlike confessional"

"The interplay between the actors and their public is a key element of this confessional. When the cast strike up an R&B song, you can expect folk in the stalls to pick up the melody and run with it. At times, the response to some of the dialogue is so raucous you might think you’re at a stand-up show at that other legendary Apollo, in Harlem. During the more introspective sections, the effect can be, frankly, a little jarring. These characters, all with burdens of their own, surely aren’t looking for laughs with every line."

"It’s the group dynamic that gives this production its frisson."

"If the writing is grandiloquent and self-pitying in places — there’s room to cut at least 30 minutes from the two-and-a-half-hour running time — the performances are note-perfect."

"A moving meditation on Black masculinity"

"Underneath the pain in Ryan Calais Cameron’s powerful play there is an abundance of light, as six Black men open up about the experiences and beliefs that have shaped them"

"It’s a powerful and deeply moving meditation on Black masculinity and Black life in Britain. But underneath all the pain, there’s an abundance of light, laughter and boyish energy too."

"While the play could never be totally encompassing of all Black men’s lives, Cameron has neatly stitched together a wealth of opposing, recognisable issues. At its core, the play asks how to play the role of the right kind of Black man. Tragic, vulnerable and honest, these are voices that are usually buried, but need to be heard."

"Even if the men’s undefined roles make them sometimes seem cartoonish, the play remains a juggernaut that deserves to attract the masses."

"Pretty wonderful"

"There’s a surprising amount of joy in Ryan Calais Cameron’s play about the experience of young British black men"

"Given the title there’s a surprising amount of joy in Ryan Calais Cameron’s play. It’s a mosaic of young British black men’s experience, often laugh-out-loud funny and physically exuberant, occasionally poetic, but with a recurring undertow of dread."

"Though the cast have strong personalities, there are no characters as such. Instead, they reconfigure for each new scenario to address or challenge stereotypes. The physical language devised by Theophilus O. Bailey-Godson is eloquent, the lads switching from larky children to attitudinising grime rappers in a heartbeat."

"Here, the emotional payoff comes from the moments when the men forget their beefs and embrace for a hug. And when they talk about suicide, which increased among black men during the pandemic. This makes it sound depressing. But as I said, there’s a whole lot of joy to savour here, too."

"Exhilarating and emotionally rich exploration of Black masculinity and mental health"

"There’s a moment in Ryan Calais Cameron’s moving choreopoem when one of the performers shares a painful, exposing story about his sexuality and another immediately crosses the stage and wraps his arms around him, holding him tight. This wordless gesture encapsulates the strength of this show – its capacity to make its audience feel held and seen."

"In between all the talk, the cast members dance, moving their bodies eloquently, sensually, playfully, mixing balletic elegance with krumping, charging up and down the stairs that frame Anna Reid’s bright, two-level set. The superb movement direction by Theophilus O Bailey makes the show as physically vigorous as it is emotionally rich."

"This is a supremely caring show, full of compassion and warmth, but it is also riotously funny at times"

"Ryan Calais Cameron’s Olivier-nominated sleeper smash is a gloriously un-West End hit"

"All of its cast and most of its creative team are Black men, talking about their experiences of growing up in a world that often sidelines and stereotypes them in a style that's non-linear, raw, spontaneous, and massively fun to watch."

"This opening scene explores how school offers unwanted lessons first in other kids' prejudice, then, later, in the grinding historical traumas of slavery. The same rhythm patterns throughout the play, with big themes getting introduced and then broken down through the fragmented experiences of the cast. But it never quite feels predictable, because Calais Cameron is such a master of the sharp tonal shift."

"Even with every aspect of the production firing on all cylinders, it does sometimes lose momentum... By the end, though, all is forgotten. This is seriously powerful theatre, the kind that feels like an event, a statement, and a party all at once – and it's got something to say to pretty much everyone, while being unapologetically for and by the Black boys of its title."

"Ryan Calais Cameron’s beautiful meditation on black masculinity"

"It takes the rough guise of a support meeting, with six black British men working through the histories that have made them who they are. That might sound corny, but Cameron’s script is witty and moving, and delivered with terrific, eloquent physicality by the six-strong ensemble."

"When words run out, song and dance take over and they launch into scintillating choreography (by Theophilus O Bailey), firing up the audience. But what really makes this show is their vulnerability, the deft expression of that through movement and subtle body language, and the celebration of the power of mutual support"