Hoochie Mama magnifies and further distorts every stereotype ever concocted about Black life: dread locked Jamaicans, steppin’ fetchit characters, homeboys, buppies, pimps, hustlers, mammies, coons, and bucks. Set in the fictitious Glad-as-Night and the Pips E-stablish-ment, Hoochie Mama centers on a confused main character trying desperately to smother his “Blackness” as a result of such stereotypes. Displaying the hallmarks of a Nambi E. Kelley production Hoochie Mama utilizes rhythmic dialogue and extravagantly drawn characters to elevate it’s language into poetry. The result is a play which begs the questions: Who do we think we are, and who are we trying please?
Hoochie Mama
Playwright: Nambi E. Kelley
World Premiere: 1997 (Afrosynthesis) - Originally produced by MPAACT, Chicago, Illinois.
Place: Anywhere America. One setting minimally suggested: The Glad-as-Night and the Pips Establishment.
Time: The mid 1990’s
One Act romantic drama (30 minutes)
3M/3F
$12/script
$35/performance