THE HANGOVER REPORT – Dexter Flanders’ FOXES takes an unflinching look at the Black gay experience, namely through the lens of London’s Caribbean community

Suzette Llewellyn and Raphel Famotibe in Brits Off Broadway presentation of “Foxes” by Dexter Flanders at 59E59 Theaters (photo by Carol Rosegg).

Currently at 59E59 Theaters, you’ll be able to catch first-time playwright Dexter Flanders’ Foxes, which is in the final week of performances of its limited run at the Midtown East venue. The play arrives from across the pond just in time for Pride Month here in New York – in my opinion, smart programming by the curators of 59E59’s Brits Off Broadway series. Set in a Caribbean community in London, the play tells a fraught tale of sexual self discovery of one Daniel, a young man who must navigate his community’s homophobia.

Although there are moments of heavy-handedness, Flanders’ play is by and large a sensitive depiction of the gay Black experience (comparisons to the Oscar-winning film Moonlight are inevitable). The play is unafraid to look unflinchingly at matters, lending convincing authenticity to Daniel’s coming out story. Be warned, however – there’s little that’s feel good or celebratory about the play, and its depiction of the tough choices that many Black gay men have had to make in order to avoid hostile treatment from their communities and families is anything but uplifting, making for decidedly grim theater. Indeed, the play ends on an unresolved, arguably tragic note – a move away from the upbeat, empowering messages of many contemporary LGBTQ+ themes plays.

The production has been directed by James Hillier, who gives the play an appropriately soulful, melancholy quality. His staging makes effective use of video projections and musical underscoring to smooth out the play’s numerous (potentially choppy) transitions. But where the production really shines is in the acting department. In the central role of Daniel, Raphel Famotibe gives a quietly heartbreaking portraying a decent young man caught between a rock and a hard place. As his hard immigrant mother Patricia, Suzette Llewellyn is the very image of staunch, immovable matriarchy.

RECOMMENDED

FOXES
Off-Broadway, Play
59E59 Theaters
1 hour, 45 minutes (without an intermission)
Through July 2

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

Leave a Reply