It’s 1981 and two young Black boys watch TV, falling in love for the first time. It’s 1983 and they shoot hoops with friends, trying out rhymes larger than themselves. The ’80s become the ’90s, the challenges of growing up shift and multiply. Now with classmates, the friends fight through the uncomfortable and painful struggles of a life that doesn’t care how young they are or what they want to be when they grow up. Written by JJ Johnson and directed by Reginald Richard, WANNABE at this year’s Capital Fringe Festival explores the hopes, mistakes, and hardships of youth with energy and encouraged audience engagement.
Overflowing with adolescent enthusiasm, the core group — Maya Thompson, Baakari Wilder, Rocky Nunzio, Lorenzo Miguel, Nathanael Hatchett, Kara Harrison, and Leah Packer — dance, rap, fight, fall in love, sink into trouble, and lean on one another as the years pass. For some, the “want to be” of childhood becomes “wannabe,” a pretender, a fake, or a mask of who they feel they must become when hope for the future is lost. While others keep pushing out or through in pursuit of the “want to be” dream still intact.
With a classic fringe theater feel, the creative team of this stripped-back black box show marks a fraught journey into adulthood with T-shirts and boom boxes. The standout production elements for me were the well-curated ’80s and ’90s soundtrack by Charles Perry to mark the passage of time and mirror the lives evolving on stage and some interesting spotlight work that ramped up the tension on stage in a heartbeat.
A show with heart and conflict but also hope and resilience, WANNABE showcases the highs and lows of figuring out who you are amid all the places you’ve been. Or as the characters would say, “Of all the things I wanna be and all the things I’ve been. The thing I wanna be the most…” Well, for the end of this verse, I guess you’ll have to see the show.
Running Time: 75 minutes
Genre: Comedy
Dates and Times:
- July 14 at 4:50 PM
- July 18 at 8:55 PM
- July 20 at 6:30 PM
Venue: Goldman Theater – Theater J
Tickets: $15
More Info and Tickets: WANNABE
The complete 2024 Capital Fringe Festival schedule is online here.