'A Strange Loop' is a portrait made of many reflections

Sometimes, the swirling thoughts of the mind can be dizzying.  But playwright Michael R. Jackson embraces the mind’s chaos. In his play “A Strange Loop” (through May 25), he crafts a compelling and vulnerable emotional show that confronts the ever-evolving self.

The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, a co-production of the Front Porch Arts Collective and SpeakEasy, starts with a Hollywood Squares-style setting.  The thoughts of lead character Usher are personified — one through six — by a terrifically talented ensemble led by Kai Clifton, in brightly lit squares.

“A Strange Loop” is about a Black, queer man who is writing a musical about a Black queer man, writing a musical about a Black queer man. At its core, it’s an introspective meta-narrative about self-discovery, identity, sexuality, insecurity, and more.

And Jackson dives into the thick of  life’s complexities, excavating the pleasant, the funny, and the uncomfortable. The production doesn’t move through the character’s life chronologically from birth. Rather, it treks through moments: phone calls with Mom and Dad where the family tea is spilled, where religiosity and anti-gay sentiment are shared. Usher’s family wants him to succeed, and they think writing a good gospel play is the answer.

So, the audience traveled through Usher’s life as he attempted to write a gospel play. There was a choir donning kente-lined orange bibs in front of a brightly lit cross singing a song about how AIDS is God’s punishment. There were also encounters with wise people Usher met at work who encouraged him to write the truth, the struggle with his inner white girl, and a smattering of intimate moments with white men, some real and some not, at least one of which Usher regrets. Clifton has an emotionally demanding role here, battling Usher’s emotions, navigating difficult family dynamics and working toward self-acceptance.  But Clifton, whose voice has a beautiful timbre, rendered their version of Usher beautifully.

The Front Porch’s co-producing artistic director, Maurice Emmanuel Parent, skillfully helms the deeply textured work — at times just as inspiring as it is heartbreaking — where inner turmoil, dreams, and bliss spill out onstage. The singing ensemble pulls audiences deep into Usher’s pulsing mind, crooning about yet-to-be-realized dreams, blackness, family, self-loathing, body issues, and love.

The smartly sharp story does not offer a tidy, joyful ending where all questions are answered. It poses even more. It muses and, through its bravery and specificity, offers some universal questions and themes to consider. "Will I be ok? What’s my change?" Usher asked aloud.

Before the audience exited the theater, playwright Michael R. Jackson stepped onstage to say a few words. Jackson shared that he was happy that the work still resonated with people. The celebrated scribe appeared to be moved by the production, which he said was the first he didn’t have anything to do with.

This offering, he said, helped him see the show with new eyes. Perhaps that’s what a strange loop is: the ability to see the same old world and the old same self anew.

Front Porch Arts Collective and SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production of “A Strange Loop” runs through May 25.