Ain’t No Mo’: Thought-provoking one act

‘AIN’T NO MO’ ‘: Marchánt Davis & cast. Photo: Joan Marcus.

AIN’T NO MO’
By Jordan E. Cooper
Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
Belasco Theatre
111 West 44^th Street
(212-239-6200), https://aintnomobway.com/

By Scott Harrah

Playwright Jordan E. Cooper’s Ain’t No Mo’ is a scathing satire about the Black experience in America that is a raucous comedy on the surface. However, beneath the laughter and hilarious jokes in each of the one-act show’s vignettes, Mr. Cooper rips off the proverbial Band-Aid of racial injustice with an ongoing subtext that tackles painful, serious issues about the persecution and systemic racism that African Americans have struggled with for centuries in this country. It is that rare show that initially has the audience laughing but as things progress, makes us really think about the inequities Blacks have suffered through from the era of slavery up to the 2020s in the USA.

The premise of Ain’t No Mo centers on African American Airlines and a nonstop flight to Dakar, Senegal at gate 1619, the same as the year African slaves were first brought to America. The story unfolds in a series of skits that may remind audiences of the groundbreaking Black comedy TV show “In Living Color” from the 1990s. Some of the scenes are outrageous, high-energy parodies loaded with dark humor.

The show opens at a funeral on November 4, 2008, the night Barack Obama won the presidential election and was about to become America’s first African American president. Mourners run down the aisles, jumping in laps of audience members—with actors sobbing and hugging folks in hilarious hysterics—before running up to the stage to a large coffin in a church containing the body of “Brother Right to Complain.” Pastor Freeman (Marchánt Davis) talks about how president-elect Obama’s presidency may help African Americans overcome a long history of oppression while mourners like Crystal Lucas-Perry display funny histrionics. The mourners believe they are about to enter an age of optimism and newfound freedom for Blacks. Hope and change, however, does not last for Blacks once President Obama leaves office.

Next up is airline gate attendant Peaches (Mr. Cooper in drag) on a call at an airport. She is trying to get all African Americans—all of whom received a text message about a free flight to Africa, courtesy of the U.S. government—to hurry up and get to the airport.  The African American Airlines jumbo jet will be leaving soon to take all Blacks to Dakar, and people can then connect to the African countries they wish to start a new life in, based on their ancestry.

Several vignettes follow that give a glimpse into modern-day Black lives. In the next scene, the show’s best, “Real Baby Mamas of the South Side,” a parody of the many reality TV shows about housewives, four women are seen at a taping hosted by Tony (Mr. Davis in one of many multiple male roles). The women all get bitchy, nasty and catty, especially when talking to “trans racial” Rachel/Rachonda (Shannon Matesky) as she is transitioning to become a Black woman. The women sharpen their claws and spew hysterical venom to Rachel/Rachonda, claiming she has no place on the reality show because she is actually white.

Another scene, “Circle of Life,” shows Trisha (Fedna Jacquet) waiting in an abortion clinic while the father tries diligently to talk her out of having the procedure.  Another woman waiting explains that she already has several kids and does not want to bring another into the world. In “Green,” an upper-class wealthy Black family sits in a posh home at a dining room table while Black (Ms. Lucas-Perry again) plays a slave who has been locked up in the family’s basement for 40 years. Black laughs at the affluent family and the snobbish way they look down on those planning to take the Africa flight. Her rapid-fire delivery of dialogue and on-stage antics are outrageous and the highlight of the vignette.

Ms. Lucas-Perry returns in the next scene as an inmate at a women’s prison. The prison has been emptied by the U.S. African exodus policy but she is hesitant about leaving when she realizes some of her belongings are missing. Ms. Lucas-Perry gives a heartbreaking performance here.

The final scene shows Peaches trying to get the last stragglers onto the Africa-bound jet. In addition to the stress of getting the plane ready to leave the gate, Peaches is hurrying frantically to get her own luggage and herself on board at the last minute. What is most troubling for her is lifting up a bag that stores all the accomplishments of African Americans throughout the centuries. Giving more details would spoil the story, but the ending is open to interpretation. The show is worth seeing for the superb performances of the outstanding cast alone. Ain’t No Mo is not a perfect play, but it is a thought-provoking one act comedy-drama about the many levels of inequality Blacks have endured in America since the 1600s.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 5, 2022
Reviewed at December 4, 2022  press performance.

‘AIN’T NO MO’ ‘: Jordan E. Cooper. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘AIN’T NO MO’ ‘: Crystal Lucas-Perry. Photo: Joan Marcus.

‘AIN’T NO MO’ ‘: Crystal Lucas-Perry & Ebony Marshall-Oliver. Photo: Joan Marcus.