‘Messiah’ Tackles Black Queer Intergenerational Trauma
May 31, 2019Award-winning playwright and director Nia O. Witherspoon wants you to feel Messiah — a production that’s all about the anguish, rage, fear, and possibility of being a young gender nonconforming person in the midst of an ongoing fight for Black resilience and healing.
Centered on a traverse stage awash in a kaleidoscope of colors, the play’s namesake character is catapulted not only through his own gender identity, but through the history of his community. As the child of Black Panther Party members, Messiah carries an intimate relationship with injustice, learning about the corruption and immorality that police officers are capable of and witnessing the Crack epidemic at a young age.