A boy with soul: Colman Domingo’s love of soul music is all consuming. Photograph by Mark Douet
Play: A Boy and His Soul
Theatre: Tricycle Theatre
Playwright: Colman Domingo
Review by Joy Francis
Soul music has never gone out of fashion. From Aretha Franklin to Marvin Gaye to Michael Jackson to Mary J Blige, the infectious songs, the sublime voices, the emotional highs and lows are why this musical genre endures. In his one man show, A Boy and His Soul, Colman Domingo drives this message home with deep affection and great abandon.
Set in a working class neighbourhood in Philadelphia, aspiring actor Jay stands in the dilapidated basement of his childhood home, being sold by his parents. Full of despair at their decision, despite it being rented out to a single parent family for years, he is shocked to discover abandoned boxes of the vinyl soul classics which provided the soundtrack to his growing up in the 70s and 80s.
As he rifles through the boxes, plucking out and playing 45s on an 8 track at random, he relives poignant family memories featuring his macho brother, feisty sister, genteel mother and salt of the earth stepfather.
The Isley Brothers Living for the Love of You takes him back to a family barbecue when he nearly burned the house down. A time when fried chicken was cooked in lard and Dynasty ruled TV. While Shining Star reminds him of seeing Earth Wind and Fire in concert, aged nine, and being blown away, changing his musical life in a blaze of flares and afros.
Soul music, he says, “was a relative” in his house as it was in the homes of many black families in Britain. It was also his “sanctuary”. As the music plays, and the stories flow, he sings and dances as if on Soul Train.
Domingo effortlessly morphs into the different members of his charismatic, eclectic and music obsessed family. His stylish mother Edie with her wistful hand gestures, spiritual ideas and love of Aretha – and Tom Jones. Then there’s chain smoking, head snapping disco diva older sister Averie who doesn’t suffer fools – period.
Clothes horse big brother Rick, talks tough and grabs his crotch with great regularity, while preening to hip hop. Clarence, his laid back, no nonsense stepfather, is a grade A philosopher of soul music and its meanings. “Son, they don’t make good Soul Music no mo. To get into soul you’ve gots to go deep … Lady Gaga ain’t going to give it to you.”
Largely autobiographical, there are moments of deep emotionality amid the sentimentality and occasional cheese. Sitting in the backyard with his mother one balmy night as she explains how the new moon signals “new money, new experiences, new dreams” while holding her open purse aloft in anticipation is beautifully observed.
Another memorable moment is when Jay comes out of the closet to his brother and the rest of his family after a disastrous night out at a strip club. The conversations with each family member are very believable and incredibly funny.
Domingo captivates throughout. Sweating from every pore he brings his family to life and makes you want to meet them in the flesh. His love of Philly, his family and the soul legacy he inherited will lead you to root through your music collection and fill in the blanks.
A Boy and His Soul is at the Tricycle Theatre until 21 September 2013.