THE HANGOVER REPORT – CHIAROSCURO interrogates the correlation between beauty and skin tone in the Black community

A scene from National Black Theatre and The Flea’s co-production of “Chiaroscuro” by Aishah Rahman at The Flea (photo by Marcus Middleton).

Last night downtown at The Flea, I caught the world premiere play Chiaroscuro: A Light and Dark Skin Comedy by Black Arts Movement writer Aishah Rahman. Presented by National Black Theatre in association with The Flea, Rahman’s new play tells the story of six romance-seeking adults who sign up to embark on a cruise for Black singles on the S.S. Chiaroscuro. Apparently en route to literally “nowhere” — as pronounced by Paul Paul Legba, the ship’s trickster of a steward (inspired by the mischievous African spirit Papa Legba) — the work charts their unfolding romantic relationships as each of the passengers unpacks the knotted root of their respective desires.

To be sure, absurdist works like the films of Luis Buñuel (e.g., The Exterminating Angel), as well as fiercely probing race-focused theatrical works like Jeremy O. Harris’s defiant, award-winning Slave Play come to mind when assessing Rahman’s surreal fantasia (the piece is also a direct descendant of outrageous sketch comedy-like plays like Jordan E. Cooper’s underrated Ain’t No Mo’ and, of course, George C. Woolf’s seminal The Colored Museum). Just as Harris unpacked the dynamics of sexual relations between interracial couples, Rahman seeks to interrogates the correlation between the Black community’s general sense of beauty and skin tone — particularly as it relates to gender — hence the play’s title (the Italian term “Chiaroscuro” is in reference to the juxtaposition of light and shadows in paintings). For the most part, Chiaroscuro makes its point emphatically and with imaginative panache — even involving a twisted adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello as enacted by the passengers — creating a world unto itself despite the occasional didactic moment.

Chiaroscuro has been stylishly staged on a striking reflective set (courtesy of scenic designer Jungah Han) by abigail jean-baptiste, who smooths over some of the play’s clunkier moments through the ingenuity and variety of her direction. The production also features some pointed performances from a fine, mostly youthful cast. Although no one performance stands out from the pack, together the ensemble weaves a tapestry of Black yearning and isolation that paints a broader portrait of a community at seeming odds with itself. As the engine of the plot — i.e., the steward Paul Paul Legba — the hard-working Paige Gilbert gives a clown-like, often deadpan performance that provokes as it entertains.

RECOMMENDED

CHIAROSCURO: A LIGHT AND DARK SKIN COMEDY
Off-Broadway, Play
The Flea Theatre in association with National Black Theatre
1 hour, 40 minutes (without an intermission)
Through June 22

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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