Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies

Reviewed by Inger Tudor

Echo Theater Company at Awater Village Theatre

Thru April 18

What happens when two 14-year-old Black boys meet in a holding cell, and the more privileged young man must reconcile his upbringing with his blackness? With biting satire; Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, explores this premise. From the beginning, an atypical “turn off your cell phones” warning puts you on notice that you are about to experience unusual theater fare.

The story opens in that jail cell with Marquis (Jalen K. Stewart), adopted by White parents and living in Achievement Heights, explaining to his cellmate Tru (Brent Grimes), an inner-city Baltimore youth, that he was arrested for “Trayvonning” in a cemetery with his two White friends. Tru is quick to point out that the Brown police officer, Officer Borzoi (Robert Hart) only arrested Marquis, who defends the officer’s failure to capture his two classmates by saying that they all ran off in different directions. This opening montage is replayed several times, going a little bit further into the story with each telling.

Eventually Marquis’s attorney mom, Debra (Tasha Ames), arrives and gives Borzoi a tongue lashing for holding her son. Once she acknowledges Tru’s existence and sees that the officer has it in for him, she convinces Borzoi that releasing Tru to her custody is the best path forward, all the while expressing her biased assumptions about the whereabouts and education level of Tru’s mom.

Marquis is reluctant to welcome Tru as an overnight guest, and Marquis will soon find out that not only is Tru to become his roommate, but through his mom’s manipulations, Tru will now be a fellow student in Marquis’ pre-dominantly White school. We watch as Marquis interacts with Hunter and Fielder (Vincent Doud and Ezekiel Goodman), the two best friends who escaped apprehension, and a trio of social-media-savvy girls (Tasha Ames, Clare Margaret Donovan and Betsy Stewart), who discuss their questionable knowledge surrounding Black history.

Tru observes these interactions and Marquis’ lack of self-awareness about his identity as a young Black man. Tru decides that the best way to help his new friend is by creating a manual for him on how to be Black.

Without giving away much more of the plot, this play has many virtues worth noting, and Ahmed Best provides adroit direction with a strong cast. Jalen Stewart and Grimes as the two black teen-agers play their roles to perfection. Ames is funny and frightening as the misguided Debra and enjoyably fluffy as schoolgirl Prairie (full disclosure: I previously worked with Ms. Ames in another production). Donovan and Betsy Stewart also impress as the other members of the trio, with Donovan’s character becoming a recognizable “Karen” later in the story, and Stewart’s the misguided crush who doesn’t see Marquis’s “color.” Hart, Goodman and Doud, each play multiple characters and do a great job of embodying and distinguishing each role (Hart and Goodman have a fantastic dream sequence as Apollo and Dionysus).

There were a few things I noticed that could make this production even richer. First, in an effort to keep the piece moving, there are moments that go by too quickly, like the final replay in the opening montage, thus the import of what’s happening doesn’t quite land. Second, part of the set includes a “laugh” sign, usually employed for sitcom taping. The use of the sign is ineffective and often distracting.

The one that really stood out for me was a scene in which Hunter, having taken on the philosophy of the manual, encounters his classmate Meadow (Donovan), who initially likes his new Black persona, but ultimately rejects it. The intent of the scene is that Hunter has now truly embodied being Black and the form of Meadow’s rejection wounds him so deeply that he can understood what a young Black man goes through, and it leads to devastating consequences. In essence, if a young White man had to endure what a young Black man does, he couldn’t handle it. However, in this production, Hunter’s blackness comes across more as play-acting, thus his response to the rejection doesn’t ring true and his subsequent actions aren’t believable.

All in all, Chisholm skillfully uses humor and insight in exploring the daily micro- and macro-aggressions of prejudice and the importance of cultural and racial awareness. Using many of the “small” incidents of racism that are commonplace for many People-of-Color, he weaves a story that makes you laugh in spite of yourself, but doesn’t let you off too easily.

Echo Theater Company at the Atwater Village Theatre, 3260 Casitas Ave., Atwater; Fri.-Sat., Mon., 8 pm; Sun., 4 pm; thru April 18. https://dime-tickets.com/events/hooded-or-being-black-for-dummies-2022