Stage Black

Writer, a respected but obscure Black playwright, attempts to write the perfect, producible Black play. The Normals, a typical upper-middle-class Black family, are introduced. We meet a momma on the couch, an angry young buck, a pretty little sister, her lover, a grandpa, an often-referred-to but never-met career-woman grandmother, and eventually some strategically placed audience members. Despite Writer's efforts, her inclination toward truth and honesty in art conflicts with her desire for commercial viability. Try as she may to write the quintessential Black play that falls within the comfort zones of white and Black audiences, her subconscious artistic and political sensibilities leap to the fore. Her characters rebel. Finally, a humorous and suspenseful coup. Writer is killed. The catatonic momma on the couch and the ethnically ambiguous European bombshell maid are killed. Angry Young Buck is killed. A new matriarch—Grandma—emerges. And with all of the clichés effectively deconstructed and out of the way, Monica (the pretty little sister) will begin a play of truth and honesty. Or can she?