Sitting with anticipation, the audience in the Howard Theatre watched nine performers take their places: seven actors, a lone 21-string kora player, and a sound mixologist.
White light grazed their faces while deep shadows fell behind them, casting the stage in a dreamlike glow. Shakespearean diction met the pulse of contemporary grief, unfolding a narrative that felt timeless and all too timely.
On Thursday, the College of Fine Arts hosted a staged reading of the late Chadwick Boseman’s play, “Deep Azure,” at the Howard Theatre.
“Deep Azure,” inspired by the tragic real-life story of Howard student Prince Jones, follows Azure, a grieving girlfriend trying to piece together the mysterious killing of her boyfriend Deep. Written by Chadwick Boseman long before he became a household name, the play speaks to systemic injustice, performative activism and what grief can do to the Black psyche.
Boseman’s family and close friends from Howard were all involved in the evening. The seven-person cast featured Howard alumni Amber Iman, Greg Alvarez Reid and Lauren Banks, along with Isaiah Johnson, Joshua Boone, and Adesola Osakalumi. Chadwick’s brothers, Derrick and Kevin, along with his wife, Simone Ledward Boseman, produced the play.
“Deep Azure” premiered in 2005 at the Congo Square Theatre Company in Chicago in conjunction with the 5th Annual Hip-Hop Theater Festival.
Denise Saunders Thompson, the assistant dean of the College of Fine Arts, taught Chadwick at Howard. She said the production was in the making for quite some time.
“Because of a number of reasons, we weren’t able to produce it. We couldn’t quite land on the same page with the estate and the university, but we were able to finally do that,” Thompson said. “So the ancestors were doing what they do, and now we are here on an anniversary year and one where we can really put the resources, the manpower, the creative team behind producing the work in its most authentic way.”
Former Dean of the College of Fine Arts Phylicia Rashad served as a creative consultant.
“When Chadwick wrote this play, he sent me a copy years ago,” Rashad said. “When I was appointed dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, this was the one thing I wanted to do. It’s a reminder of how much intellect he had, how much research he poured into his work. He moved with intention.”
The play exists in an imagined world (a fictional college called Mecca University), but its themes are grounded in aspects from reality — state violence, memory, masculinity and the burden of becoming a symbol.
Chadwick’s use of Shakespearean diction within a distinctly urban, contemporary framework creates a haunting and familiar rhythm; placing the play in a genre called hip-hop theater. The genre combines elements of traditional theater with hip-hop music and dance. “Deep Azure” is one of four hip-hop theater pieces written or in conjunction with Chadwick, and has been called a “cultural precursor” to Hamilton.
While at Howard, Chadwick, Reid and director NSangou Njikam were essential parts in hip-hop theater taking prominence. Reid said they didn’t know the genre would become what it is today.
“It was just us being our regular selves, and bringing our culture into what we were learning at Howard. It’s an odd feeling because we were just trying to do the best work we can and create together. Now that it has spread globally, it feels good to know that we were kind of some of the progenitors of some of that,” Reid said.
Njikam said he never thinks of himself as a pioneer, but rather as a practitioner and a student.
“This art is relevant because it’s constantly morphing. Sometimes we call it hip-hop theater, but when people use jazz, or when people use the blues, or when people use spoken word, it’s all the African continuum,” he said. “We were the first to tell stories. Hip is to know, hip is to be current, and hop is to move. Whatever the current movement in theater that’s coming from the culture is hip hop theater.”
Njikam shared that Phylicia Rashad reached out to him on Father’s Day, almost a year before the reading, to direct the show.
“First, I had to check in with Chad’s spirit and make sure this was appropriate,” he said. “Once I understood I had the go-ahead, it was about honoring the work, setting the bar of excellence.”
The event served as a fundraiser for the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, with ticket prices ranging from $750 to $1,100, ensuring that future generations of artists would benefit from the same foundation that shaped Chadwick.
On the announcement on Howard’s Instagram, commenters complained about the pricing. In a gesture that reflected the spirit of accessibility and inclusion, discounted tickets were made available to students the day before the performance.
“The DMs were coming in, the comments were really mad. And we were like, ‘Okay, now it’s time.’ That is what Chad would want us to do. He wants art to be accessible to everyone. This is a fundraiser, but we are at Howard University, so we absolutely have to honor our student body,” Thompson said.
Ty’Ree Hope Davis, a senior acting major from Baltimore, was excited for the reading and the fundraising opportunity. Through funding from the College of Fine Arts, Davis was able to produce his play “Riot: The Beat of Freddie Gray.”
“There’s so much art coming out of the College of Fine Arts. When the department gets money, [students] get money and their dreams get funded. I’m studying hip-hop theater. It’s so inspiring to be with the people that started it all,” Davis said.
Ramere Kelly, a freshman acting major from Charleston, South Carolina said he didn’t know what to expect walking into the play.
“Even through stage reading, they brought the characters to life through the way they spoke,” Kelly said. “I could see it was from their heart. And so just being in this space with all of these beautiful Black people, with these beautiful Black actors on stage it makes me feel really happy I get to call a school like Howard home.”
Simone Ledward Boseman said the play reflects the multitudes of Chadwick’s artistry.
“His love for Black people, his love for Shakespeare, his love for hip-hop, his love for African mythology and spirituality is all part of this. You couldn’t put on an instrumental anywhere in his presence without him starting a freestyle,” Simone said.
Speaking of the play, Simone called it a “beautiful story.”
“It’s a beautiful story of pain and healing and how those coexist,” she said. “It’s a conversation between the living world and the spirit world. What you take from it will show you a lot about yourself and your loves and your beliefs and your passions and I’m really excited for people to have that experience.”
Kevin Boseman said he hopes that the play communicates Chadwick’s legacy, calling him a “consummate artist.”
“He was an actor. He was a writer. He could dance. He could sing. He was a quadruple threat,” Kevin said. “As an artist myself, I’m always encouraging young artists to obviously focus on their deepest passion but to also expand the mind. You need to be able to do everything. He is one of those people that could do it all and do it at the highest level.”
Copy edited by Anijah Franklin
