Last night the crew was invited to a showing of “Secrets of a Black Boy”, a play by Toronto’s own Darren Anthony.  This production is said to be the sequel to Canadian phenomenon ‘da Kink in my Hair, and with mentor, older sister and producer Trey Anthony at the helm, is it any wonder why the Secret is about to be outed.

For those who don’t know Secrets sets the stage for the sad truth about the city-dubbed “Regent Park Revitalization” project, where by the City of Toronto has completely demolished one half of what use to be North Regent Park’s low income housing units to make way for “mixed-income” condo suites on… you guessed it,  prime, highly sought-after downtown real estate.  As the last of the buildings, home to the Regent Park Community Centre, is set to meet its final demise, community mentor Sheldon tactfully played by poet/actor Al St. Louis, vows to hold one last dominoes match for ol’time’s sake.

Sheldon invites 5 of his childhood friends, Jerome (Darren Anthony), an abusive, love-fiend street stalker, Jakes (Eli Goree), an obvious product of his environment turned yuppie investment broker, Sean (Shomari Downer), the hard-working, under-appreciated regular Joe the Plumber, Dwayne (DJ O-Nonymous) the neighbourhood sound man, and last but not least the animated promiscuous, naïve, 16 year old new boy look-a-like, mentoree, Biscuit (Samson Brown), to commemorate the final adieu.  While dealing out the 6-love’s the band of brothers go down an emotional, thought-provoking, and at times humorous, journey of their lives then and now.

No topic too taboo, each character freely discusses their own vices and closet stories from relationship commitment (the wifey checklist) to vivid encounters of reoccurring gun violence, down to police brutality at its finest and more.

The plot ties in seamlessly to the storytelling of each character and provides a brief but concise background of the friends’ connection to one another.  While most of the play is set in a monologue-esque form, you can rest assured there is plenty of opportunity for candid and unsolicited audience participation.

Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommended Anthony’s “Secrets of a Black Boy” is a definite must-see.

Opening night is this Friday September 25 at The Music Hall – 147  Danforth Ave.  Tickets can be purchased by calling 416-778-8163 or online at ticketmaster.ca.

To find out more on the cast and see backstage footage of the making of the Secrets visit secretsofablackboy.com and on Facebook.

Previously: EVENT: Trey Anthony presents SECRETS OF A BLACK BOY

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• CONTEST: Secrets of a Black Boy
• EVENT: Trey Anthony presents SECRETS OF A BLACK BOY
• EVENT RUNDOWN: Black Moon & Smif -N- Wessun [Tribute To The Classics Show In Toronto]