Black and Blue is a solo show about a Black boy living in a society that doesn’t like it when our Black men show vulnerability, and this sensitive boy learns to bottle up his feelings and internalize his trauma. Over time, his hot pink shirts turn to faded black and his playlist turns from 90s boy bands to the gangsta rap of the early 2000’s. But at the end of this dark tunnel is a light that will lead us back to the path of joy, liberation, and freedom. Like the Backstreet Boys album, our biracial boy realizes it’s ok to be Black and feel Blue.
Created & Performed by Reynaldo Pinella
Directed by Kevin R. Free
Photos by Maria Victoria Polanco
REYNALDO PINIELLA was seen on Broadway in Trouble in Mind and Thoughts of a Colored Man. Off-Broadway credits include work at Signature, TFANA, Rattlestick, NYTW Next Door, Working Theater and the Public Theater. Regional work includes Baltimore Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, O’Neill, Sundance Theatre Lab, Cleveland Play House. As a playwright, his work has been developed and commissioned by Baltimore Center Stage, San Diego Rep, The Civilians, Single Carrot Theater, HB Studio, Shakesqueer Theater Company and the Lee Strasberg Institute. @ReynaldoRey. www.reynaldopiniella.com
KEVIN R. FREE is a multidisciplinary artist whose work as an actor, writer, director and producer has been showcased and developed in many places, including The Moth Radio Hour; Project Y Theater; Flux Theater Ensemble; the Queerly Festival (of which he is now the curator), and The Fire This Time Festival, where he served as Producing Artistic Director for 5 years, winning an Obie for his work in 2015. His most recent directing credits include Where We Stand (Portland Stage); Red Rainbow (Waterwell); Barbecue (Hofstra University); and Marcus; or The Secret of Sweet (UNLV). Twitter/Instagram: @kevinrfree www.kevinrfree.com
