ORLANDO, Fla. – “Blackity-black Black:” That’s how co-director Maurice Mallard described the production of “The Colored Museum,” set to run at the Orlando Repertory Theatre.
It’s a satirical play, written by George Wolfe in 1986, that explores the nuances and expectations inherent in the Black experience, playing on society’s often warped interpretation of Black identities and themes.
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“It has 11 different exhibits, all with commentary on what it is to be Black and the Black experience,” Mallard said. “(It’s) different things (and explores) ... the way that things like the war has affected Black men, what it is to sell out as a Black person in America, how your hair defines you. Just so many different tropes the show takes a nice little look at.”
He added while the “exhibits” all exist within the same museum on stage, not every vignette is connected to the last.
“We literally get to see a man kill his childhood, like the representation of his childhood. And then we also, three scenes later, get to see him turn around and be crying on the floor, ‘Mama, I ain’t just another Black man!’ It’s this shift in dynamic and comedy and an all gets to come from this one character,” Mallard said. “A Black man can be comedy, he can be drama, you know, like, there’s so many different roles that he can fit. And that’s exactly what the show does. So, it shows you from top to bottom, the range of a Black actor.”
As men wearing many hats, that’s a character arc Mallard and his team of co-directors and entertainment company founders can relate to.
Mallard, alongside co-directors Arius West and Christopher Payen, make up MAC Boys Entertainment, a company they decided to create after meeting at the University of Central Florida and discussing their shared vision to fill the void of Black representation in the theatre world.
And while the company’s co-founders are all artistic directors now, Mallard said they know the struggle of being relegated to roles “in the Black show” and nothing more.
“I think that a lot of times the vision of what the character could be does get lost on preconceived notions of what they’ve seen before. Even on the university level, I’ve had professors telling me that, ‘Well, because this show takes place in this area or this country, we’re probably not going to be casting, you know, people of color to do the show,’” Mallard said. “... I got tired of just being limited, not by my skill, not by my talent, not by my willingness to learn, but simply because of the color of my skin.”
Mallard said the company’s mission for the future is to paint the stage with the whole spectrum of BIPOC shades and colors, taking classics like “The Music Man” and “Death of a Salesman” and showing them through a news lens, transforming the traditionally white Harold Hills and Willy Lomans into characters more accessible to the Black and Latino communities.
Take Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” Mallard said, which explores a male protagonist struggling to succeed with a series of odd jobs in achieving the American Dream. Mallard said if you make Loman a first-generation immigrant, a Latino who came over to make a name for himself in America and still fails despite the nation’s promise to give its citizens a new start, the story might be more compelling.
“American theater isn’t the most, isn’t the most understood and open subject, because I feel like for my people, it’s not always so readily accessible, because it’s very hard to relate to the characters who are on stage. If I go to my family right now and I tell them about “Dreamgirls”... they’re going to know (it),” Mallard said. “But if I go on and I expand the list of literature and knowledge and classic American plays, a lot of that gets lost because it’s not our story, you know, it’s not told and it’s never in a relatable fashion to other Black people in America.”
Cue MAC Boys Entertainment and “The Colored Museum,” the first in a series of steps to ensure audience members like Mallard’s family are seen on stage.
“When people come in, please understand that you are literally getting a part of our soul, that you are literally getting a glimpse into what our mind is. And that if you don’t see anything, I need you to see that we have nothing but love and joy and respect ... for the Black man, for the Black people,” he said.
The MAC Boys Entertainment production runs at the Orlando Repertory Theatre from June 17-26. This show contains strong language and explores suggestive themes that may not be appropriate for children. For more information on showtimes and tickets, click here.
To learn more about MAC Boys Entertainment, currently in residency at the Orlando Repertory Theatre, and what they have coming up, visit their website.