The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2023 - Issue 33

bitetheatre Wearing a long flowing gown (or maybe they were culottes) and a cool matte black PVC Adidas jacket, sport- ing a cute curly faux-hawk hairstyle, John-Paul, in his metrosexual essence, glided onto the stage and introduced us to his performances in a manner that set the tone for what was to come. He very candidly, yet spiced with hu- mour, explained what ‘Intersectionality’ meant and how it impacts him as a gay person. In a manner that screamed swagger, he performed his first spoken-word piece entitled ‘Busy Day at the Intersec- tion’ based mainly on race. As he embalmed us with his thought-provoking yet humorous lines of the actuality of today’s society from his point of view, a tremendous font of derogatory words flashed on a projector screen behind him. Each impacted like a blow across the face as we were taken to imagine what it would be like to experience those words thrown at us in the manner they flashed on the screen. What was also very clever was that instead of John-Paul uttering a particular profanity, at the exact time he would have said it in his performance, it flashed on the screen behind him, rhyming with the previous line of his poem. Memorable lines included “Turn all the lights green and let yourself be seen” and “Empowering your identity. May your past be your tutor.” Certain Blacks Present Theatre Review