Black is the Color of My Voice was reviewed at Storyhouse, Chester and continues touring with dates to October 2024 and in March 2025.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
In the decade since Apphia Campbell created her one-woman show Black is the Color of My Voice, it has gone on to enthral audiences across the globe, from Edinburgh to Adelaide and from the West End to Shanghai. Now directing rather than performing in the piece, Campbell’s shoes are filled for this new UK tour by Nicholle Cherrie.
The show’s enigmatic blurring of the boundaries between fact and fiction could be a little perplexing if the viewer failed to read the brief introductory note in the show’s promotional blurb. Although it frequently feels like one, this is not a biography of Nina Simone. Cherrie plays the part of a musical prodigy called Eugenia, who takes on the stage name of Mena Bordeaux in an attempt to escape the attention of her God-fearing parents when she leaves behind her beloved Bach and Gospel to perform the Devil’s music.
From her early beginnings as a gifted pianist whose dream of a career on the classical concert stage is thwarted by racism, through performing as a lounge singer to finally using her music as a powerful force in civil rights activism, the parallels with Simone’s life are too strong and too many to ignore, especially when all of the accompanying music comes from her repertoire. Nonetheless, the dramaturgy steadfastly keeps pulling attention back to the premise that this is a story inspired by her, and the framing device of having Mena sitting in a shabby hotel room recounting her life to a photograph of her dead father reinforces the fictionalised aspect of the writing.
Cherrie’s stage presence is utterly mesmerising. After a brief, sung opening, there are extended passages of spoken dialogue before the songs begin to come more frequently, but you can hear a pin drop as the story unfolds. There is a real sense of unfettered rebellion and excitement in the career that Mena embarks upon after her rejection as a piano scholar by the Curtis Institute, with ‘I Put a Spell On You’ and ‘Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair’ giving a first real glimpse of Cherrie’s vocal range. However, the story takes a sharp change of direction after she hears of a church bombing, with ‘Mississippi Goddam’ marking the dawn of a new period in her life.
The fire that Cherrie injects into her performance from this point is electrifying and creates a dramatic arc that sets the scene perfectly for the appearance of ‘I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free’ and, finally, ‘Feeling Good’, which are spine-tingling in these beautifully rendered interpretations.
The only small regret about this show is that, unlike Josette Bushell-Mingo’s Nina (almost contemporary with this when it first appeared), it does not employ a live accompaniment, relying on a recorded backing track. This, however, allows for a more detached theatricality in the presentation and storytelling and enables Campbell’s arm’s-length approach to character and narrative to have a freer reign.
Black is the Color of My Voice is both a treat for lovers of Simone’s music and a powerful and timely rallying cry for tolerance and understanding. The show is enjoying a whistle-stop tour, with one and occasional two-night appearances in over 20 more venues through until October, and dates are now appearing for the spring of next year.
Nigel Smith
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