Corey Reed
Music 150
Word Becomes Flesh
As a Music 150 student I was required to attend the performance Word Becomes Flesh
held on Thursday, October tenth. Written and directed by Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the play is a
physical representation of the complex feelings and emotions felt by a young black male during
the nine months of an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. The venue was BowkerAuditorium, a
medium sized venue with a proscenium stage that was completely filled for the show. Prior to the
beginning of the show we in the crowd were instructed to cheer for the performers when they did
something we liked, which set the energy level on high before the performers even made an
appearance. Once the performers were on stage it was easy to see that they fed off of this energy
and gave it back tenfold in their effort.As for stage design, from where I was sitting on the far
right there did not appear to be any props. However, I had seen upon walking in that there was a
DJ’s table set up in the back right corner, this being the lone feature on stage.
Prior to attending the performance Word Becomes Flesh, I had guarded expectations
about what I should expect to see. Of the performances I have seen in my past, few have held my
attention or interested me in the least, and I was not optimistic that this one would be any better.
If I am to be honest I was expecting an hour long bashing of society, especially the white male
figure, in the oppression of young black males. I imagined I would be watching a dark and
dreary reenactment of a man’s struggle to get by in a predominantly white society, and raise a
child on top of it all. However what I saw on stage differed from what I imagined immensely. It is safe to say that I was pleasantly amazed at what I saw on stage that night. The power
and emotion that the performers put forth had me connecting with them in ways that I did not
think possible through a show. One example would be when one member of the group is
describing the feelings of the young single male during the summer time. He is singled out on
stage in the spotlight, a dark stage surrounding him, soft jazz playing in the background setting a
tone of suave intellect to these man’s words. Immediately most males, including mys
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