Black is the Color of My Voice

By Amy Stow

It is rare to find a production that retains the lightest touch whilst dealing with such powerfully moving material. In Black is the Color of my Voice, writer, producer and performer Apphia Campbell is a tour de force as Mena Bordeaux, a jazz singer that rose to fame throughout the 60s and 70s. Based on true events taken from the life of Nina Simone, Bordeaux, who has locked herself in a hotel room for 3 days to cleanse herself of her demons, speaks to the spirit of her father, revealing secrets she never told him, and memories she wishes she could relive.

Campbell delivers each segment of Bordeaux’s story with such honesty, vulnerability and conviction that I defy anyone to remain unmoved. She sweeps the audience up into her stories, reliving painful memories such as her first love and her abusive husband Arthur, and infectiously giggling at those beautiful moments that happened long ago, but remain locked inside her heart. Bordeaux dances with her father in the living room, sings her Christian heart out for freedom, and becomes increasingly disillusioned with White supremacy and the shackles it places on equality. Using her gift in the same way as Nina Simone, Bordeaux joins and assists the Civil Rights Movement, riffing on her disgust at humankind and lamenting her despair at the untimely death of Martin Luther King – and her father.

An ode to a past riddled with regret, Black is the Color of My Voice is a call to arms for oppressed individuals across the globe, and is a powerful reminder that nothing lasts forever. Even Bordeaux’s voice will eventually, like Nina Simone’s, fade into silence, and the only legacy that we humans can leave is the impression we make on the hearts of those who love us.

★★★★★

Black is the Color of My Voice

Gilded Balloon

14:20 (1 hour)

Until August 25th

@PostScriptJour

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