If Dreadlocks Could Speak: Show Revival Gives Voice to Stories About Black Women's Hair

After several runs in the Emerald City and wowing critics abroad this summer, BLACK TO MY ROOTS: African American Tales from the Head and the Heart (BTMR) is back for its 25th anniversary with a revamped, expanded theatrical production Oct. 10–11 at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. Cowritten by Kathya Alexander and Reneschia Brown, the multimedia experience depicts stories of Black women with a focus on their hair, which is not simply a matter of aesthetics and style. BTMR representative Tsepo Ramarumo writes of the project, "[Hair] is a vessel of identity, a site of struggle, and a declaration of power. The play gives voice to how Black women navigate self-image, beauty politics, and cultural survival in a society that too often marginalizes them."

The original BTMR was written in 1999 as a choreopoem, a series of monologues strung together to create a play. Co-creator Alexander has said in interviews that the idea was conceived by her co-writer Brown and Brown's brother Tyrone, eventual director of the first BTMR production. Reneschia had considered locing her hair, and when she expressed it to her grandmother, her grandmother was unexpectedly critical. Alexander shares, "[Her] grandmother just went crazy about it, saying, 'You can't do that, that's awful.'" Reneschia then "started writing about the emotions all this stuff was bringing up in her."

The result is a timeless, deeply resonant theatrical piece that depicts the personal, social, and political implications of Black women's hair. Black women's hair has long been a cultural touchpoint. It contains stories of grief, personal expression, cultural celebration, and survival, from cornrowing seeds into hair during chattel slavery to use for later nourishment to entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker's wildly popular Wonderful Hair Grower product, from the chemical burns from perms and scalding burns from hot combs to the "Black is Beautiful" and natural hair movements. Today, Black hair care is a billion-dollar industry, which is only projected to become more profitable in the coming years.

BTMR's trail of success began in Scotland more than 20 years ago, when it debuted at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2002 to wide critical acclaim, winning the Binge Fringe Award for Best Black Production. The project returned to Fringe this past summer and enjoyed a similarly lauded run, earning five-star reviews and once again winning the Best Black Production Award, with critics praising its "emotional depth" and "undeniable authenticity."

Its current ensemble cast at Langston Hughes encapsulates multigenerational Seattle talent, including Brenda Melrose, Muso Simekha, Giavonna White, Tonya White, and Adra Boo. Boo has written an original song included in this production, as well as created her own Black hair-inspired, music-driven theater piece called Hair's Breath.

A creative collective composed of theater director and producer Nxt Thrsdy, Brownbox Theatre, and ajusticenetwork is responsible for bringing the revamped version to the stage, along with assistant directors and co-choreographers Justice Beitzel and Robin Campbell. The wider BTMR Project also includes two exclusive matinee staged readings for Kathya Alexander's provocative and compelling show Black D*ck Matters, also showing Oct. 10–11 at Langston Hughes.

The collective is committed to radical storytelling and cultural truth-telling, according to the BTMR press release. "[The play] is about the cultural weight we carry — how we are seen, and how we choose to be seen. In that way, BLACK TO MY ROOTS isn't just theater. It's testimony," says Thrsdy.

Returning audiences should expect new elements to the pieces. Thrsdy reveals the reimagined BTMR features "a cast of five beautiful Black women telling their stories through drama, music, and dance in original and compelling ways."

Regardless of how the production evolves, the emotional impact it has left on viewers in the years since its 1999 inception will be recognizable: "The memories, the heartbreak it evokes. The happy memories that people talk about in the talkbacks," says Alexander.

BLACK TO MY ROOTS: African American Tales from the Head and the Heart

• Friday, Oct. 10, and Saturday, Oct. 11, 7 p.m., doors open at 6:30 p.m.

• Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, 104 17th Ave. S. WA 98144

• Tickets available via Eventbrite.