Ryan Calais Cameron is a writer for theatre and TV. His plays include Typical, Queens of Sheba (co-written with Jessica Hagan and winner of the 2018 Edinburgh Untapped Award); Rhapsody (2018 Off West End Adopt A Playwright Award); For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy (nominated for a 2023 Olivier Award for Best New Play); and Retrograde (shortlisted for the 2019 Alfred Fagon Award and Verity Bargate Award 2020). He is an alumnus of the Royal Court writer’s programme 2017 and the Soho Young Company 2016/17. Izuu Nwankwo is Assistant Professor in the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. His research interests revolve around African and African diaspora theatre, performances and popular culture.

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 ... The script is crucial, pressing poetry.

• ChronologyContexts (Ntozake Shange; George Floyd; Black Lives Matter) Setting (audience as therapist; forum for open discussion; multiplicity of spatial and physical spaces)Characters (individual character exposition through stage action, dialogue and interactions) Tone (episodic nature of the plot; nonlinear structure of the play)Themes (Black masculinity; identity & survival; community & solidarity; Blackness, heteronormativity and sexuality; Blackness and Western conflation of Black identities; emotional vulnerability)Dramatic devices (types of play; choreopoem format; role play; narration)Play in performance (innovation; production history; interview with the playwright) PLAY TEXTNotes

Ryan Calais Cameron is a writer for theatre and TV. His plays include Typical, Queens of Sheba (co-written with Jessica Hagan and winner of the 2018 Edinburgh Untapped Award); Rhapsody (2018 Off West End Adopt A Playwright Award); For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy (nominated for a 2023 Olivier Award for Best New Play); and Retrograde (shortlisted for the 2019 Alfred Fagon Award and Verity Bargate Award 2020). He is an alumnus of the Royal Court writer’s programme 2017 and the Soho Young Company 2016/17. Izuu Nwankwo is Assistant Professor in the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. His research interests revolve around African and African diaspora theatre, performances and popular culture.

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 ... The script is crucial, pressing poetry.

• ChronologyContexts (Ntozake Shange; George Floyd; Black Lives Matter) Setting (audience as therapist; forum for open discussion; multiplicity of spatial and physical spaces)Characters (individual character exposition through stage action, dialogue and interactions) Tone (episodic nature of the plot; nonlinear structure of the play)Themes (Black masculinity; identity & survival; community & solidarity; Blackness, heteronormativity and sexuality; Blackness and Western conflation of Black identities; emotional vulnerability)Dramatic devices (types of play; choreopoem format; role play; narration)Play in performance (innovation; production history; interview with the playwright) PLAY TEXTNotes

Ryan Calais Cameron is a writer for theatre and TV. His plays include Typical, Queens of Sheba (co-written with Jessica Hagan and winner of the 2018 Edinburgh Untapped Award); Rhapsody (2018 Off West End Adopt A Playwright Award); For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy (nominated for a 2023 Olivier Award for Best New Play); and Retrograde (shortlisted for the 2019 Alfred Fagon Award and Verity Bargate Award 2020). He is an alumnus of the Royal Court writer’s programme 2017 and the Soho Young Company 2016/17. Izuu Nwankwo is Assistant Professor in the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto, Canada. His research interests revolve around African and African diaspora theatre, performances and popular culture.

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 ... The script is crucial, pressing poetry.

• ChronologyContexts (Ntozake Shange; George Floyd; Black Lives Matter) Setting (audience as therapist; forum for open discussion; multiplicity of spatial and physical spaces)Characters (individual character exposition through stage action, dialogue and interactions) Tone (episodic nature of the plot; nonlinear structure of the play)Themes (Black masculinity; identity & survival; community & solidarity; Blackness, heteronormativity and sexuality; Blackness and Western conflation of Black identities; emotional vulnerability)Dramatic devices (types of play; choreopoem format; role play; narration)Play in performance (innovation; production history; interview with the playwright) PLAY TEXTNotes