Lamesha Ruddock
“Your whole world can look different if you are in the right seat.”
But what’s the cost?
Kofi is finishing the last days of his prison sentence and he’s ready to tell his story. A truant turned corporate climber, In The Black is a one-man reckoning on masculinity, the myth of Black excellence, and the blood-price of assimilation in a system never designed with us in mind.
“In the black” is an accounting term for financial health and Baffin Productions succeed in loading this phrase into the context of a Black man trying to thrive in white institutions. In The Black challenges the American dream in ways that feel immediate and necessary.
Performed and written by Quaz Degraft, this play from Baffin Productions is a study in transformation. A bright boy nicknamed “Calc” for his maths skills, Kofi grows up under the stern gaze of a Ghanaian father who believes discipline is salvation and after getting swept up in joyrides, he’s determined to heed his father’s warnings. As he steps into adulthood, we follow Kofi through uncomfortable job interviews and all too well known microaggressions.
A single black chair centre stage. A wooden table neatly covered with clothes and where a mic rests. A guitar tucked away in the stage left corner. And Degraft, who shapeshifts between characters with ease and emotional precision. From nervous teen Kofi to soft-voiced HR Joy, to bellowing as his Ghanaian father with such accuracy, to James, the white CEO whose back is more terrifying than any frontal confrontation. Degraft’s subtle unbuttoning, the recurring motif of the pen click, the shift in breath, he creates a character so convincingly sinister it draws an audible discomfort from the audience. Degraft delivers a masterclass in vocal elasticity, and intentionally uses multi-rolling to really dig into the performances we put on that sustains silence and shame.
There is pride in the details. Credit must go to the lighting designer for crafting emotional shifts with such rigour. The scene where Kofi gets into the car? A haunting blue wash side and back lights him. Later, as he meets Gia, gold tones flood the stage, instantly conveying his attraction to her. The karaoke bar glows in green and purple washes, showing their playful relationship.
Costume shifts are minimal but meaningful. That orange jumpsuit, shed like skin. The blue shirt and yellow tie, the kind of outfit you wear when you’re trying to convince yourself you belong. His suit jacket and trousers held up by the Ghanaian belt that taught discipline.
In the Black dismantles the myth of Black excellence with tenderness and care, leaving the audience to examine what we’ve given up to survive and what we perpetuate everyday.
Tight. Polished. Unnerving in all the right ways.
Recommended Drink: Whiskey neat.
Catch In the Black between 1st August and 23rd August at 10:20am or 11:55am on select dates. Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jamaican Nation Language Translation
“Your whole world can look different if you are in the right seat.”
Bot wa di chaarj?
Kofi ah du im lass days eena jail. Im redi to tell im stori. Truant weh tun top man eena offis, In the Black a im solo konfesyan. How Blak man peep yard, an wuh yuh haffi gi up fi luk laik yuh a win.
Di taitl “in the black” a wud fi monie inna gud stiet, but dehso, Baffin Productions flip it fi shuo a Blak man chrai survive eena Babylon. A stori bout osl, an it kwechchan di Merikan driim.
Quaz Degraft rait it, perform it an shepshif eena evri karakta. Wan smaddy pon steij bot im kyarri di kroud wid im.
Di bwoy dem kaal “Calc”, brait brait, pik up sum likkl chroble early. Im fada, Ghana man, biliv belt solv evriting. Kofi chrai waak di line. Mi si di presha bild eena im ches. Job intavyuu dem ruf. Maikragreshan dem hot laik pepa.
Wan blak chyaa senta steij. Tabl niit wid klouz. Maik res pon top. Gita sidung kaam. Degraft deh pan steij an flip vois laik majik. Fram saft HR oman, to tunda vois fada to bossman James ,di wite man weh own di ruum wid im back tun. Yuh si how Degraft hol bret? Klik pen? Tek af belt? Mi haffi giv im 2 bad aiz. Di diiman de pon steij.
Im vois elastik. Im jomp rol dem fi shuo how wi pritend fi survive. Di silence wi swala. Di shiem wi haid.
Di likkl tingz mata: laitnin kom een laik spirit, blu wen Kofi get inna di kaar. Gold wen him si Gia, love a tek im. Griin an paapil glow up di karaoke.
Klouz shift likkl bot evi. Di orinj jompsuut drap af im laik snake skin. Di yelou tai, blu shot? A kostium fi man weh waan fit een. Suut hol up bai di Ghana bel im fada ah bokx im wid.
In the Black bruk up Blak ekselens mit wid kier. Lef di audience fi aaks demself, weh wi gi up fi survive? Weh wi a du di same ting everi dei?
It tait. Klin. Mi neva did ekspek dat endin.
Rikomended Drink: wiski plien.
Catch In the Black between 1st August and 23rd August at 10:20am or 11:55am on select dates. Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake Mace
Jasmine Silk
