Showin Up Black (FKA,Black Bougie)
Table Read with Actors
Synopsis
Louis and Claire Hopegoode, an affluent African American couple, see their plans for their daughter Evvie’s perfect debutante ball collide with a Black Lives Matter protest in front of the cotillion hotel. Claire, the debutante ball chair, insists that her influential husband have the protest moved so as not to interfere with the debutante ball, nor disrupt her climb into the upper echelon of society. Her husband, Louis, a prominent attorney is conflicted by his role behind the scenes of the protest that may compromise whose side he’s really on.
Evvie, has other sentiments about the protest and in particular, one of the organizers of the protest, that cause her to reject her parents’ goals for her life, and subsequently endanger her safety. And Kwan, a young Black organizer who has beat the odds and is enrolled in an exclusive east coast college, finds himself dodging the clutches of the police that could send him to jail for years.
When forced to take action on the competing desires, obligations and violence crashing through their world, will the Hopegoodes be able to hold their family together, and restore the safety they thought they had achieved by living in an elite gated community?
Evvie, has other sentiments about the protest and in particular, one of the organizers of the protest, that cause her to reject her parents’ goals for her life, and subsequently endanger her safety. And Kwan, a young Black organizer who has beat the odds and is enrolled in an exclusive east coast college, finds himself dodging the clutches of the police that could send him to jail for years.
When forced to take action on the competing desires, obligations and violence crashing through their world, will the Hopegoodes be able to hold their family together, and restore the safety they thought they had achieved by living in an elite gated community?
Script History
“Showin' Up Black” (FKA "Black Bougie") was developed at Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) through Catapult, a CPT New Play Development Program, and the Nord Family Foundation Playwright Fellowship, under the guidance of Executive Artistic Director Raymond Bobgan.
A short version of the play received a virtual staged reading at Ensemble Theatre of Cleveland in 2019.
A short version of the play received a virtual staged reading at Ensemble Theatre of Cleveland in 2019.
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Excerpt
ACT I
SCENE 1
The HOPEGOODE’s home. It is the day before the elite African American sorority, Gamma Zeta Epsilon’s Debutante Cotillion ball. CLAIRE and MARIE are working on the final seating chart for the cotillion the next evening. The TV is on, on low volume.
CLAIRE
Why don’t people decide who they are going to bring to a formal event before they RSVP? All these last-minute additions! They have absolutely no understanding of how rude it is to add guests to a formal event! Not to mention how taxing it is to rearrange a seating chart the day before a debutante ball! The Gamma Zeta Epsilon Debutante Ball!
MARIE
Hmm, I know. The Carlson’s niece is one of those! She had on that totally inappropriate dress at last year’s Winter Ball. Remember?
CLAIRE
Of course, I remember, Marie. How could I forget? It left nothing to the imagination!
MARIE
I know. I was afraid to seat her next to anybody’s husband. It was disgraceful!
CLAIRE
I only said she could come to the cotillion because she’s Judy and Marshall’s niece, and Judy promised me she’d make her wear an appropriate gown! But just to be safe, for the cotillion, let’s seat her in the back this time.
MARIE
Oh, Claire, you’re so good. (They giggle)
CLAIRE
Did you decide on your shoes? Which ones are you wearing?
(Silence)
Oh, Marie! Not the Louboutins!
MARIE
Well, why not? I’ve got ‘em. I intend to flaunt ‘em.
(MARIE pulls up a picture on her cellphone.)
CLAIRE
Oh, but not at the cotillion, dear.
MARIE
Why not? Look!
(MARIE Shows CLAIRE the pic on her cell phone.)
Now tell me that is not a gorgeous shoe! You know that’s a gorgeous shoe!
CLAIRE
But, Marie, they are déclasse'! Too nouveau-nouveau. Nouveau Riche!
MARIE
These puppies set me back - a yard and two bills for the Red Bottoms. That’s twelve hundred dollars.
CLAIRE
Only homegirls would wear Louboutins to a cotillion! Wear the Jimmy Choos. They’re elegant, classy, and they don’t hurt your feet!
MARIE
(Feigning innocence) Why whatever do you mean? How did you know Louboutins make my feet hurt?
CLAIRE
Sweetheart, Louboutins make everybody’s feet hurt. They’re handmade by the French – they don’t fit American feet well – anyway, they don’t fit our African American feet well…
MARIE
What do you mean by that?! There you go …. Speaking of which - have you talked to Evvie?
CLAIRE
Yes, she’s flying in from Boston early tomorrow morning and I am sending her straight to the hairdresser. I made her promise to get some order in that wild bunch of knots she calls a hair style. My daughter is not going to be a debutante with her hair all over her head.
MARIE
What did she say to that?
CLAIRE
Oh, you know; what I call the liberation talk. I get it, but for this evening, I feel that she can honor my request.
MARIE
I know what you mean – really. I sent Spenser to the barber shop to have his hair and beard trimmed and dyed.
CLAIRE
They do that?
MARIE
Oh Yeah, girl. Spenser has been dying his hair for years. He’s fifteen years my senior and he tells me all the time he doesn’t want to look like an old man when he’s with me.
CLAIRE
Well, he looks so young anyway no one would ever guess that he’s that much older than you. When is that handsome son of yours coming in?
MARIE
Byron’s driving down from Ann Arbor – so it’ll be late. He and Evvie make such a cute couple! Wouldn’t it be nice if they got together?
CLAIRE
How’s he liking the University of Michigan?
MARIE
He loves it!
CLAIRE
He has no choice. Your family bleeds blue and gold.
MARIE
Maize. It’s Maize and Blue. If you’ve never been in the Big House, you don’t know.
CLAIRE
Well, we didn't have football at Smith. I wanted Evvie to come today, but she said she had an assignment that she had to finish. She’s getting a ride from the airport with Floetry Johnson.
MARIE
‘Poetry”? They named their child ‘Poetry’?.
CLAIRE
No, Flo – etry. She’s on scholarship at Boston Prep. But honestly, though, these people and their names.
MARIE
Is that that family that just moved up here from the hood?
CLAIRE
Girl, you oughtta quit. But –
MARIE and CLAIRE (in unison)
Hair stores, eyesores, and check cashing places galore!
MARIE
(Looking at the TV) Oh my God!
(CLAIRE turns to view TV.)
Did you see that? That cop just hit that boy in the head!
CLAIRE
BLM and Students for … What does that say?
MARIE
I can’t see it. Maybe, ‘police accountability’.
CLAIRE
Where is this happening?
(CLAIRE and MARIE watch enthralled.)
MARIE
Claire, that’s Public Square! Right in front of the Ritz Carlton!
MARIE and CLAIRE (in unison)
The debutante ball!
MARIE
What are we going to do?
CLAIRE
Maybe they’ll be gone by tomorrow.
MARIE
I wouldn’t count on it. This could be the worst disaster in Gamma Zeta Epsilon history!
CLAIRE
I know. We can’t let this ruin the ball tomorrow.
MARIE
We can get it moved!
(CLAIRE looks up at MARIE.)
The protestors.
CLAIRE
Can they move a protest?
MARIE
I don’t see why not.
CLAIRE
Good point. But, who do we know who could do it?
MARIE
We better come up with something fast because, I mean, I just have Byron, but you’ve got a daughter, and this is the most important night of these girls’ lives!
CLAIRE
Sssh, I’ve got to think….. I’ve got it! The Chief of Police.
MARIE
Bill Barrow? Can he do that?
CLAIRE
I’ll go talk to Louis about it right now.
(Lights down on MARIE on her phone and lights up on LOUIS in his study on a conference call.)
(CLAIRE enters.)
LOUIS
…I don’t give a damn about that! I want to lead with the statistics about hairdressers getting more training hours than cops, but I’ve got to have the department manual in order to do that. Hold on for a moment.
(LOUIS mutes his business conf call and speaks to CLAIRE.)
I’m in the middle of something here, Claire…..
CLAIRE
… Louis, there are protestors in Public Square. In front of the Ritz.
LOUIS
…Uh huh. Claire, what does this have to do with anything?
CLAIRE
Our daughter’s cotillion is tomorrow night and there’s a protest in the Square! Surely, you can’t be comfortable with our daughter coming in contact with all of that! And I’m sharing this with you because I want you to get them moved.
LOUIS
Claire, what?
CLAIRE
Louis, for the past two years we have been planning for our daughter along with the nineteen other Gamma Zeta Epsilon debutantes, to sweep into the Ritz, in their white ball gowns and up
CLAIRE Cont’d
the stairs to the grand ballroom. And there is no way, absolutely no way, that I’m going to have this evening ruined for them because of a protest.
LOUIS
OK, hold on for a minute.
(Back to business conf call)
Hey Jamaal, Luther? I’ve got to take this. Get the manuals, and any other pertinent evidence we need, and call me back in about an hour. (Listens) Alright, trial starts next week. Let’s be ready.
(LOUIS Hangs up conf call. Slightly exasperated)
Yes, Claire. That’s a huge lawsuit I just got pulled into. Peoples’ lives hang in the balance, but I broke off to deal with this – matter. You have my full attention – so go ahead. What can I do to make your life easier?
CLAIRE
Louis, please don’t be sarcastic. I wouldn’t have interrupted your work if it weren’t important. I’ve got to fix this! The only thing Marie and I can think of is to get the protestors moved. There are a hundred other places in this city where they can go. But there’s only one Ritz Carlton Hotel. So, I want the protestors moved. And I want you to call Bill and get the protestors moved.
LOUIS
Claire, I love you, you know that, and I love my daughter, you know …
CLAIRE
….Oh, Louis, please. Don’t. Just please, call Bill. He’ll do it for you.
LOUIS
I’m not sure he can. Do you know what happened to cause the protest?
CLAIRE
Louis, I’ve been up to my neck with the cotillion. Please don’t make me feel guilty!
LOUIS
Claire, the trial for the officers who killed Ketavius Brown is being fast tracked to start next week. People are angry. Bill’s got his hands full, and frankly, so do I.
CLAIRE
This is important! You’ve got to….
(Beat)
LOUIS
She is going to be beautiful, isn’t she? It’ll be worth all the money I had to spend on this thing.
CLAIRE
Oh, Louis, it is going to be the most beautiful debutante ball ever – the event of the year, and I’m chairing it! I’ve got the newspapers, and channel 3 news coming. They appreciate a positive story! A contrast to all the negative images they’re always showing of us robbing, or shooting or – protesting! Oh, Louis this will be the happiest night of her life! – If, you get the protestors moved.
END ACT I
SCENE 1
SCENE 1
The HOPEGOODE’s home. It is the day before the elite African American sorority, Gamma Zeta Epsilon’s Debutante Cotillion ball. CLAIRE and MARIE are working on the final seating chart for the cotillion the next evening. The TV is on, on low volume.
CLAIRE
Why don’t people decide who they are going to bring to a formal event before they RSVP? All these last-minute additions! They have absolutely no understanding of how rude it is to add guests to a formal event! Not to mention how taxing it is to rearrange a seating chart the day before a debutante ball! The Gamma Zeta Epsilon Debutante Ball!
MARIE
Hmm, I know. The Carlson’s niece is one of those! She had on that totally inappropriate dress at last year’s Winter Ball. Remember?
CLAIRE
Of course, I remember, Marie. How could I forget? It left nothing to the imagination!
MARIE
I know. I was afraid to seat her next to anybody’s husband. It was disgraceful!
CLAIRE
I only said she could come to the cotillion because she’s Judy and Marshall’s niece, and Judy promised me she’d make her wear an appropriate gown! But just to be safe, for the cotillion, let’s seat her in the back this time.
MARIE
Oh, Claire, you’re so good. (They giggle)
CLAIRE
Did you decide on your shoes? Which ones are you wearing?
(Silence)
Oh, Marie! Not the Louboutins!
MARIE
Well, why not? I’ve got ‘em. I intend to flaunt ‘em.
(MARIE pulls up a picture on her cellphone.)
CLAIRE
Oh, but not at the cotillion, dear.
MARIE
Why not? Look!
(MARIE Shows CLAIRE the pic on her cell phone.)
Now tell me that is not a gorgeous shoe! You know that’s a gorgeous shoe!
CLAIRE
But, Marie, they are déclasse'! Too nouveau-nouveau. Nouveau Riche!
MARIE
These puppies set me back - a yard and two bills for the Red Bottoms. That’s twelve hundred dollars.
CLAIRE
Only homegirls would wear Louboutins to a cotillion! Wear the Jimmy Choos. They’re elegant, classy, and they don’t hurt your feet!
MARIE
(Feigning innocence) Why whatever do you mean? How did you know Louboutins make my feet hurt?
CLAIRE
Sweetheart, Louboutins make everybody’s feet hurt. They’re handmade by the French – they don’t fit American feet well – anyway, they don’t fit our African American feet well…
MARIE
What do you mean by that?! There you go …. Speaking of which - have you talked to Evvie?
CLAIRE
Yes, she’s flying in from Boston early tomorrow morning and I am sending her straight to the hairdresser. I made her promise to get some order in that wild bunch of knots she calls a hair style. My daughter is not going to be a debutante with her hair all over her head.
MARIE
What did she say to that?
CLAIRE
Oh, you know; what I call the liberation talk. I get it, but for this evening, I feel that she can honor my request.
MARIE
I know what you mean – really. I sent Spenser to the barber shop to have his hair and beard trimmed and dyed.
CLAIRE
They do that?
MARIE
Oh Yeah, girl. Spenser has been dying his hair for years. He’s fifteen years my senior and he tells me all the time he doesn’t want to look like an old man when he’s with me.
CLAIRE
Well, he looks so young anyway no one would ever guess that he’s that much older than you. When is that handsome son of yours coming in?
MARIE
Byron’s driving down from Ann Arbor – so it’ll be late. He and Evvie make such a cute couple! Wouldn’t it be nice if they got together?
CLAIRE
How’s he liking the University of Michigan?
MARIE
He loves it!
CLAIRE
He has no choice. Your family bleeds blue and gold.
MARIE
Maize. It’s Maize and Blue. If you’ve never been in the Big House, you don’t know.
CLAIRE
Well, we didn't have football at Smith. I wanted Evvie to come today, but she said she had an assignment that she had to finish. She’s getting a ride from the airport with Floetry Johnson.
MARIE
‘Poetry”? They named their child ‘Poetry’?.
CLAIRE
No, Flo – etry. She’s on scholarship at Boston Prep. But honestly, though, these people and their names.
MARIE
Is that that family that just moved up here from the hood?
CLAIRE
Girl, you oughtta quit. But –
MARIE and CLAIRE (in unison)
Hair stores, eyesores, and check cashing places galore!
MARIE
(Looking at the TV) Oh my God!
(CLAIRE turns to view TV.)
Did you see that? That cop just hit that boy in the head!
CLAIRE
BLM and Students for … What does that say?
MARIE
I can’t see it. Maybe, ‘police accountability’.
CLAIRE
Where is this happening?
(CLAIRE and MARIE watch enthralled.)
MARIE
Claire, that’s Public Square! Right in front of the Ritz Carlton!
MARIE and CLAIRE (in unison)
The debutante ball!
MARIE
What are we going to do?
CLAIRE
Maybe they’ll be gone by tomorrow.
MARIE
I wouldn’t count on it. This could be the worst disaster in Gamma Zeta Epsilon history!
CLAIRE
I know. We can’t let this ruin the ball tomorrow.
MARIE
We can get it moved!
(CLAIRE looks up at MARIE.)
The protestors.
CLAIRE
Can they move a protest?
MARIE
I don’t see why not.
CLAIRE
Good point. But, who do we know who could do it?
MARIE
We better come up with something fast because, I mean, I just have Byron, but you’ve got a daughter, and this is the most important night of these girls’ lives!
CLAIRE
Sssh, I’ve got to think….. I’ve got it! The Chief of Police.
MARIE
Bill Barrow? Can he do that?
CLAIRE
I’ll go talk to Louis about it right now.
(Lights down on MARIE on her phone and lights up on LOUIS in his study on a conference call.)
(CLAIRE enters.)
LOUIS
…I don’t give a damn about that! I want to lead with the statistics about hairdressers getting more training hours than cops, but I’ve got to have the department manual in order to do that. Hold on for a moment.
(LOUIS mutes his business conf call and speaks to CLAIRE.)
I’m in the middle of something here, Claire…..
CLAIRE
… Louis, there are protestors in Public Square. In front of the Ritz.
LOUIS
…Uh huh. Claire, what does this have to do with anything?
CLAIRE
Our daughter’s cotillion is tomorrow night and there’s a protest in the Square! Surely, you can’t be comfortable with our daughter coming in contact with all of that! And I’m sharing this with you because I want you to get them moved.
LOUIS
Claire, what?
CLAIRE
Louis, for the past two years we have been planning for our daughter along with the nineteen other Gamma Zeta Epsilon debutantes, to sweep into the Ritz, in their white ball gowns and up
CLAIRE Cont’d
the stairs to the grand ballroom. And there is no way, absolutely no way, that I’m going to have this evening ruined for them because of a protest.
LOUIS
OK, hold on for a minute.
(Back to business conf call)
Hey Jamaal, Luther? I’ve got to take this. Get the manuals, and any other pertinent evidence we need, and call me back in about an hour. (Listens) Alright, trial starts next week. Let’s be ready.
(LOUIS Hangs up conf call. Slightly exasperated)
Yes, Claire. That’s a huge lawsuit I just got pulled into. Peoples’ lives hang in the balance, but I broke off to deal with this – matter. You have my full attention – so go ahead. What can I do to make your life easier?
CLAIRE
Louis, please don’t be sarcastic. I wouldn’t have interrupted your work if it weren’t important. I’ve got to fix this! The only thing Marie and I can think of is to get the protestors moved. There are a hundred other places in this city where they can go. But there’s only one Ritz Carlton Hotel. So, I want the protestors moved. And I want you to call Bill and get the protestors moved.
LOUIS
Claire, I love you, you know that, and I love my daughter, you know …
CLAIRE
….Oh, Louis, please. Don’t. Just please, call Bill. He’ll do it for you.
LOUIS
I’m not sure he can. Do you know what happened to cause the protest?
CLAIRE
Louis, I’ve been up to my neck with the cotillion. Please don’t make me feel guilty!
LOUIS
Claire, the trial for the officers who killed Ketavius Brown is being fast tracked to start next week. People are angry. Bill’s got his hands full, and frankly, so do I.
CLAIRE
This is important! You’ve got to….
(Beat)
LOUIS
She is going to be beautiful, isn’t she? It’ll be worth all the money I had to spend on this thing.
CLAIRE
Oh, Louis, it is going to be the most beautiful debutante ball ever – the event of the year, and I’m chairing it! I’ve got the newspapers, and channel 3 news coming. They appreciate a positive story! A contrast to all the negative images they’re always showing of us robbing, or shooting or – protesting! Oh, Louis this will be the happiest night of her life! – If, you get the protestors moved.
END ACT I
SCENE 1