I recently experienced a very captivating production of “The Black Wolfe Tone,” playing at the Irish Rep’s W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre on W. 22nd Street. The one-man show, written by and starring Kwaku Fortune, is an amazing and deeply personal story about his journey with bi-polar mental illness and growing up a Black man in Ireland. Having a Black mother and a white father, he often experienced discrimination from white Irish people who did not embrace him as one of their own.
Fortune tells a story of a man, now spending his days in a mental hospital, who is trying to figure out how to act in an interview that could determine whether he could be released. As he meets with and speaks to his doctor, the story of how he came to be there is slowly and painfully revealed. This play helps people to understand what life circumstances could lend to someone winding up in a mental hospital; and to feel great empathy for a patient who is dosed with various drugs just to keep them calm and controlled. It is quite disturbing to hear the effects that some drugs can have on people with mental illness.
This character definitely experienced issues with his parents — a father who was too hard and demanding on him, and a mother who was too accommodating of others and would discourage him from being combative with people.
Despite the serious nature of the play, Fortune manages to interject the script with humor. You find yourself touched by all he has had to endure, and you realize that people can be so cruel, that prejudice can have devastating effects on the person who is not accepted. Imagine being raised in a household in which anything you did wasn’t good enough for your father and then society also felt that you fell short. We all desire to be accepted and loved, and when those things don’t happen, the question is, where would that leave you? What would you do if you grew up not feeling supported, and then also faced that from society at large? Who wouldn’t go to the dark places of their mind to escape?
This play leaves an impression. It makes you think about mental illness, rejection, and seeking an approval that you never get to realize. While it is disturbing, it is also stunning to witness. “The Black Wolfe Tone” has captivating direction by Nicola Murphy Dubey and — proving that less is more — subtle set design by Maree Kearns, lighting design by Adam Honore, and sound design by Denis Clohessy. Fortune will be performing this production in Ireland in June, but you only have until Sunday, June 1 to experience it in New York. For ticket information visit irishrep.org.