Black is the Color of my Voice Archives

★★★★

“Campbell has created something full of emotion, with engaging dialogue and beautifully executed vocals”

Nina Simone was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on 21st February 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina. She was, and still is, widely regarded as one of the most influential recording artists of the 20th century. But what was life like for her? Apphia Campbell has written and also performs in Black is the Color of My Voice, a piece inspired by the life of celebrated performer, Nina Simone.

Campbell, as Simone, is alone in the performance space, delivering her lines to a photograph of her late father, who it is clear she has deep affections for. She very much involves and engages the audience, addressing lines to us, as well as the photograph. Throughout the piece, we are taken on a journey through Simone’s life, from her childhood discovering a love of playing the piano, to her romantic relationships, abuse endured and her commitment to the American Civil Rights Movement. Although the piece is set in one room, furnished with a bed, a desk and chairs, it’s easy to imagine the other various locations spoken about, as a result of the descriptive dialogue and enchanting storytelling.

The emotion and passion shown throughout is inspiring to say the least. You can’t help but be drawn in to each and every experience of the singer that is shared on stage. There are light moments, including amusing impressions of Simone’s mother when she learned of her daughter’s interest in jazz, “the devil’s music”. The darker moments, including a recollection of Simone’s abusive marriage, are heartbreaking and a great deal of empathy is created.

Lighting (Clancy Flynn) and sound (Tom Lishman) design during the section of the piece highlighting Simone’s horror over events surrounding the American Civil Rights Movement is hugely effective. Recordings of real news segments, the aftermath of horrific events and speeches are played, as well as lights flashing as she changes T.V channels. These elements, combined with Campbell’s acting abilities, ensure a highly dramatic and tense section of the piece.

You don’t necessarily need to be a fan of Nina Simone to be absorbed in this show. Apphia Campbell has created something full of emotion, with engaging dialogue and beautifully executed vocals in songs interwoven throughout. Direction by Arran Hawkins and Nate Jacobs has ensured the space is used well and the energy never falters. It’s clear why Campbell’s show has enjoyed worldwide success in recent years.

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography by Geraint Lewis

Black is the Color of my Voice

★★★

Soul Sessions

★★★★

Trafalgar Studios

Reviewed – 7th February 2019

“Campbell possesses a volcanic energy that leaves the audience helpless to her charm”

Apphia Campbell is a sensation and a powerhouse. That is indisputable. In bringing Nina Simone to life through a one-woman show (Black is the Color of My Voice) and concert (Soul Sessions), she demonstrates tenacity, ferocity and a warmth beyond compare, that was no doubt honed and crafted with deft direction from Arran Hawkins. However, her script for the one-woman show feels rushed and unpolished, resulting in an uneven overall package.

Nina Simone was a prolific singer most prominent in sxities America for her songs that became a part of Civil Rights activism, encompassing genres such as jazz, gospel, and blues. Apphia Campbell tries to explore this through the narrative framing of her in a bedroom, unpacking a suitcase filled with the paraphernalia of the past and telling the audience stories associated with those objects, interwoven with songs from Nina Simone’s discography. These stories are told vividly and interestingly, but the retrospection of them removes a sense of agency, especially given that it is unclear where in her life we are currently seeing her, and so there is never a feeling that looking at her past is really serving to propel her into her future.

Additionally, Black is the Color of My Voice feels quite rushed, introducing plot threads and characters to provide quickfire context for songs but never returning to them in a way that is meaningful for a thorough interrogation of who Nina Simone is as a person. Her mother, for example, features prominently initially but disappears without explanation later on. That is not to say that Black is the Color of My Voice does not feature moments of brilliance, as sections seeing Nina inadvertently becoming the face of the Civil Rights Movement and a particularly tense and heartbreaking scene with her husband are gripping pieces of storytelling, but on the whole, the show feels reluctant to go beyond the surface level. This is encapsulated most in the baffling decision to call Nina Mina Bordeaux instead, which only adds to the unfortunate distance between who Black is the Color of My Voice portrays and who Nina Simone might actually have been.

Soul Sessions, the concert making up the second part of this double bill, however, takes a different tack and pulls it off with aplomb. Apphia Campbell appears as herself this time in a cabaret-style performance, with the assistance of the exceptional accompanist Tim Shaw. She relates her own life experiences to the effect Nina Simone had on her and firing up a magnificent rapport with the audience in the process. Campbell possesses a volcanic energy that leaves the audience helpless to her charm, wit, passion, and drive, and her soul-drenched vocals are so smooth that by the time you’re bouncing out of the auditorium that you’ll have almost forgotten how jagged Black is the Color of my Voice was.

The Vaults

Reviewed – 28th June 2019

★★★★

“Campbell has created something full of emotion, with engaging dialogue and beautifully executed vocals”

Reviewed by Emily K Neal

Photography by Geraint Lewis