CHOIR BOY
Theatre Royal Stratford East
★★★★
“The dialogue crackles with energy and drama, with each performer wearing their personality with complete conviction”
Tarell Alvin McCraney’s 2012 play “Choir Boy” is essentially a coming-of-age story set in a select boarding school for boys which tackles the themes of bullying, identity, sexuality and cultural history that we have come to expect. But McCraney delves deeper than this, with an approach so beautifully subtle that the layers peel back often unnoticed. Like a piece of music that shifts from the major to the minor keys in small progressions, we only realise we have wandered in a new direction when our emotions tell us. Compellingly moving and often acutely funny, “Choir Boy” delivers its punches with tenderness.
It centres around five of the students that form the choir at the Charles R Drew Preparatory School. Opening with a gospel-tinged chorale that repeats the refrain ‘trust and obey’, we soon learn that the rules, if not broken, are stretched to breaking point. The singing – all a Capella – throughout is sublime, its harmonies a reflection of how much of an ensemble piece this is, with the natural dynamics between the five boys being instantly believable. Pharus (Terique Jarrett) is the self-appointed leader, although his position is thrown into question after a recital is interrupted by fellow singer Bobby (Rabi Kondé) covertly throwing a racist and homophobic slur at him. Pharus refuses to ‘snitch’ on Bobby which puts him in conflict with Headmaster Marrow (Daon Broni) who is caught between laying down the rules but also allowing his pupils’ uniqueness to flourish.
The issues of bullying and homophobia are a veneer. Despite varying backgrounds, the characters seem to be on a level playing field, and a lot of the conflict is affectionate jostling. Pharus, who is openly gay, shares his dorm with AJ (Freddie MacBruce). Their relationship is close knit, like siblings almost; constantly at war but undyingly supportive. Jarett’s Bobby provides more tension, along with his side kick Junior (Khalid Daley), and adding more complication to the already volatile mix is David (Michael Ahomka-Lindsay). The dialogue crackles with energy and drama, with each performer wearing their personality with complete conviction. When replacement choirmaster enters, the questions of race are taken up a further notch. Mr Pendleton (Martin Turner) seems to be the only white person in the school, yet he is the one most sensitive to and intolerant of racial abuse.
Which all leads to debates about tradition and history. Framed within class exercises and musical refrains, these discussions emerge and explode as naturally as the performances. Nancy Medina directs with this very much in mind, so that the jumps from song to storytelling are seamless. And the deeper discussions never feel like a debate. When Pharus rebukes Bobby for using the word ‘slave’ instead of ‘enslaved’, McCraney avoids the obvious and well-worn polemic and instead the focus explores the evolution of the ‘Spirituals’ and the spread of Black music. Pharus encapsulates the arguments with the simple phrase that the lyrics need to be evaluated for what they ‘meant’ and not what they ‘mean’.
Whatever the message, the music that weaves through the play touches us on a truly emotional level. Arranged by Femi Temowo, the Hymnals, Gospels and Spirituals are sung with gut wrenching honesty and breathtaking harmonious precision. The cast break out into solos but always return to the ensemble to remind us that they are all in this together. This harmony informs the piece. There are moments of discord, but hope lies in the constant spiritual refrain. This isn’t just about kids under pressure to discover and prove who they are. It’s not a queer play, nor a Black one. It’s not a musical, nor is it a straight drama. It is all of these, arranged into one unique chord. “Choir Boy” is in a class of its own.
CHOIR BOY
Theatre Royal Stratford East
Reviewed on 31st March 2026
by Jonathan Evans
Photography by Mark Senior
