[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Theatre Beyond Broadway’s Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words written and performed by Elizabeth June.
Elizabeth June is an award-winning actor, writer and singer and theatre director. You can tell from the moment she sets foot on stage that she knows what she is doing. Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is a travelogue through her life and as we journey with her we see it all through her own unique lens, that is a particularly difficult thing to do. Yet, somehow, with a mix of song, spoken word, monologue and a brilliant hybrid of all three, she accomplishes it a plenty.
Elizabeth was brought up in a very religious household, so much so that her mother moved them to Keene,Texas to live amongst the Seventh Day Adventist church members in an exclusive town dedicated to the church. Moving from kaleidoscopic New York City to Texas must have been a shock for her. However, when you are a kid, you go where you are taken. In Texas, she was among a minority as a black girl, but that became the least of her problems…
This beautifully written and beguilingly performed, Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is one of those almost indefinable life stories. It covers abuse, heartbreak and loss. But it also provides us a precious glimpse into a world most of us would never see and it does so with a woman whose incredible strength and adaptability probably prevented her from losing her mind after a childhood full of sexual abuse.
Elizabeth June didn’t just survive her life, though. She has become who she is in spite of it. A highly creative force to reckon with. Brilliant, gifted, courageous and loved. This remarkable performance goes far beyond your typical biopic solo show. Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is a total rejection of victimhood. Not to say that victims are not worthy of anything, but that Elizabeth is not forging her story using that lens. She transcends her possible narrative and creates her own parallel universe. It’s as if there were a tear in reality and she stepped through it. Becoming herself in another existence almost, while still carrying that history with her.
Notes from a Narcissistic Negro and Other N Words is a lesson in taking control of your life no matter what. She may not feel as if she is a guide, a model, a GOAT. But she is. Profoundly so in fact. Through abuse and cancer and all that these things do to your mind body and spirit. And still I was laughing and tearing up through most of the show. Incredible!
Elizabeth has taken all she has experienced, good and very bad and accepted it all. And through this acceptance, she has grown wings. I watched in astonishment as she sang and preached and performed her way through this story as if it were her final moments. And I can almost guarantee that she replicates this phenomenon each and every time she performs this truly life-changing show.
If you are able to see this show, and I truly hope that you are, I absolutely insist that you do.
The Team
The design and production team includes projection and sound design by Jason Williams, and lighting design by Ian McDonald. Nicole Jesson and Malini Singh McDonald, founder of Theatre Beyond Broadway, as producers.