Tarell Alvin McCraney’s latest play is set is an American prep school for black boys. Designer Ultz has cleverly transformed the theatre into a school building with great hall, dorm and showers. Pharus (Dominic Smith), an intelligent, opinionated, outspoken, manipulative and effeminate young man in his late teens, is in charge of the choir and wants to be the chief singer in the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations on Graduation Day. His room mate (Khali Best) accepts him for what he is; but some of the other boys have a problem with his limp-wrist gayness. The most aggressive is the headmaster’s nephew (Eric Kofi Abrefa) and his language is racist and homophobic.
Another pupil (Aron Julius), who hopes to become a pastor, is deeply disturbed by his own homosexual feelings. The headmaster (Gary McDonald), somewhat surprisingly, is totally unaware of what might possibly be going on in the dorms and showers of an all-boys boarding school. The only white character is an old and doddery Civil Rights veteran (David Burke) who teaches creative thinking. One of the play’s key scenes is an argument about whether the Negro Spirituals, which date from the days of slavery, actually carry coded messages about how to escape.
A major feature of the play is the inclusion of Gospel songs and the strength of Dominic Cooke’s excellent, fluid production is not only the impressive acting but also the fine singing. Choir Boy should prove popular with students and have a long life on the campus in the US and GB.