Ché Navïn Arrington — a Black, gay, trans artist and writer born in DC — wrote The Hardest Words to Say in 2018 when they were a freshman in college. A one-time reading in the District Fringe festival proved it to be a deeply introspective and lyrically theatrical memory play whose imaginative and original storytelling absolutely warrants a full production.
The main character, a bisexual Black college student named Oprah, tries by revisiting her past in the hope of healing to process trauma from sexual abuse that began when she was 12 (“How did I get so broken?” “How did I become so alone?”).
Oprah (pointedly named after Oprah Winfrey, also a sexual abuse survivor) has two female friends from school, Will and Missy, both lesbian, with whom she tries to work out relationships that are by turns romantic and reminiscent of Mean Girls. There is also a Man in the cast who plays multiple male roles, including Oprah’s therapist, various dating app guys, a brief hookup, and a predator.
In a most promising stroke of dramaturgy, the character of Oprah is simultaneously portrayed by two female actors, named Heart and Mind.
MIND: Why do you think one man has such power over us?
HEART: One man can ruin a lot of lives.
The split within Oprah originates, Mind explains, in her experience of “One man. A predator. A beast. I became two people, so I could be more than one man…”
In the reading I attended, the actors appearing as Heart (Kayla Earl) and Mind (Cayla Hall), brought to the roles a touching vivacity and emotional translucence that hinted at how a full staging could clarify the dramatic impact of their connection and distinction.
Arrington’s dialog ranges from punchy to poignant, as when Mind responds to her therapist’s recommendation that she knit.
MIND: I’m sorry. I don’t understand how knitting will help me deal with my problems.
THERAPIST: It’s said to be very therapeutic.
MIND: So far it feels stupid and pointless.
THERAPIST: Look, there are people who knit and people who don’t. What do you do?
MIND: I unravel.
Arrington’s dialogue can also be sexually graphic, as when Oprah encounters a cartoonishly pro-sex woman next to whom she feels inferior.
MIND: For some people, thinking about sex can be triggering.
HEART: For some people, thinking about sex can be uncomfortable.
Among the scenes in the play are some marvelously comic set pieces, as when Heart, having “succumbed to peer pressure and started internet dating,” encounters a laughable succession of online guys whom she promptly swipes left or right.
In another, Mind imagines that her friends Will and Missy stick up for her in a scene staged as an over-the-top telenovela.
I was particularly impressed by how Arrington looks with a sharply satirical eye on the culpability of men, as in this exchange:
MAN ONLINE: Ya know this whole feminist movement thing and sexual misconduct awareness, it’s great, but I think one thing that’s not being talked about is how a bunch of guys—guys I hang out with and work with everyday—who don’t do this kind of thing and whose lives aren’t going to be affected by everyone talking about these bad dudes all day long. I’m sayin’ that all this shit being covered in the news is the bad dudes.
HEART: The rapists, pedophiles, and sexual predators?
MAN ONLINE: Yeah those guys. Everyone talks about them, but no one talks about the good guys like me.
HEART: Do you want some pats on the back for doing nothing? … Men like you make it so much easier for “bad dudes” to thrive.
Like a tenderly kept time capsule of one teenager’s remembered pain, acuity, and passion, The Hardest Words to Say cries out to be openly heard.
The Hardest Words to Say
Work-in-progress exploration of trauma and survival by Ché Navïn Arrington
Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes
Date and Time: Saturday, July 26, 3:45p
Venue: Phoenix – UDC Lecture Hall (44A03)
Tickets: $15
More Info and Tickets: The Hardest Words to Say
Genre: Drama
Directed by: Ché Navïn Arrington
Playwright: Ché Navïn Arrington
Performed by: HEART – Kayla Earl (She/they), MIND – Cayla Hall (She/her), WILL – Ché Navïn Arrington (They/he), MISSY – Mars Pyles (She/her), ONE MAN – Daniel Young (He/him), OPRAH/STAGE DIRECTIONS – Kayla Holloway (She/Her)
The complete 2025 District Fringe Festival schedule is online here.
The 2025 District Fringe Festival program is online here.
