Theatre / “Choir Boy”. Directed by Dino Dimitriadis and Zindzi Okenyo. At The Playhouse until April 2. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

“CHOIR Boy” is set in the Charles R Drew School for Boys where young, black and gay student Pharus Young is determined to be the best choir leader in the history of the school. 

Taunted by another of the all-black choir members with hurtful slurs about his homosexuality, Pharus tries to conform to masculine expectations of the school and his fellow students.

This story of a young gay man desperate to find his place in the world is punctuated with a cappella gospel hymns of love and warmth that are in conflict with the young man’s struggle to be liked and accepted for himself. In this case, it’s his homosexuality that is a “problem”, but the fact there is conflict because he is perceived as “different” by his fellow students is really the issue.  How he feels about the way he is treated at an age where fitting in with his peers would be important to him, is at the centre of this play.

The headmaster, played by Robert Harrell, is bound by rules and regulations. An elderly white teacher, Mr. Pendleton, played by Tony Sheldon, employed to help with the boys’ critical thinking, ultimately admits defeat as well. A happy or tragic ending might have been expected but the play’s actual ending is more realistic.

A plus in this production is the gospel singing. Music director, Allen Reneé Louis and associate musical director, Zara Stanton, have obtained fine vocal performances by the talented cast of young men.

We do not learn much about the characters and the small scenes seem to be snapshots in time, rather than a story with continuity. A lot of the dialogue is hard to understand as the boys speak with an accent that is unfamiliar to our ears. We come to realise that the emotion of the scenes presented is more important here than story.

Darron Hayes as Pharus Young, the troubled, gay, young man, gives a strong, dramatic performance and sings gloriously.

The rest of the cast of students are more notable for their fine singing than for the dramatic opportunities the play allows them. Tony Sheldon gives an excellent, believable performance as Mr Pendleton, a white man who thinks that his way of teaching, effective in the past, will work just as well with this group. The moment where he realises he is wrong is very moving.

The simple abstract setting by Paperjam Productions evokes the atmosphere of an old school steeped in tradition and the directors, Dino Dimitriadis and Zindzi Okenyo, use the acting spaces and levels of the setting well. The emotional levels in the drama and singing have been carefully realised.

This is a play where feelings have the most importance.