'Choir Boy' explores life, love, and queer identity for Black teens

Oscar-winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play “Choir Boy," showing at ACT Theatre, is a coming-of-age story where none of the characters actually come-of-age – and that is the play’s brilliance.

The story follows the choir at Charles R. Drew Prep School, and focuses on Pharus Young, the ambitious lead singer who is openly gay. The action is fueled by acapella singing and choreography, as the actors use their bodies and set pieces as instruments to provide an organic soundtrack. The root of the play is Young’s experience within the masculine environment of a southern, Christian, all-boys school.

Instead of having each of the characters' stories end neatly with an arc that perfectly captures their growth, director Jamil Jude leaned into the authenticity of allowing the teens in the play to have unresolved issues.