American Players Theatre Review: "The Barber and The Unnamed Prince"

Jules Da Costa, Simpson Street Free Press

The world premiere of Gavin Dillon Lawrence’s “The Barber and the Unnamed Prince,” now playing at American Players Theater until September 25th, is more than a tribute to the “Chocolate City.” It’s a reflection of identity, fatherhood, and the erasure of culture in a city changing too fast for its people to hold on.

Originally titled “The Death of Chuck Brown,” the DC music icon and Godfather of Go-Go was a prominent theme in the play. However, the play’s title and content were recently slightly changed after the Brown family expressed their opposition to Chuck Brown’s name and music being used. The main plot of the play remains unaltered.

Entirely set in a barbershop, the play follows Kofi, a middle-aged barber deeply rooted in tradition, and his struggle as a Black man in America as he wrestles with raising his teenage son, Prince. The play opens to a stage filled with smoke and the spirit of the Ancestor, played by La Shawn Banks, moving in a slow, flowy motion. The scene quickly cuts to the barbershop, where Kofi, played by David Alan Anderson, and childhood best friend Sweep, portrayed by Nathan Barlow, are opening up the shop and reflecting on their glory days. The changing atmosphere in and around the barbershop seems to be a prominent symbol of a community at risk of being forgotten.

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