“[Anthony is] especially adept at switching from the serious to the comic in a few lines, and the audience reacts audibly to certain revelations as well as to the play's moments of intensity and humour.” —Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine
“Anthony plumbs this generational trauma to create a story of poignant truth about racism, colonialism, and their effect on the family… Trey Anthony is a national treasure.” —Dorianne Emmerton, Mooney on Theatre
From the author of the blockbuster hit ’da Kink in my hair comes an emotional and raw look into family dynamics, trust, resolution and change.
Claudette still can’t forgive her mother for leaving. For six years of her childhood, Claudette and her sister Valerie were left with their grandmother while their mother, Daphne, moved from Jamaica to the United States to start a new chapter for their family. But in that time, Daphne remarried and had another daughter.
Claudette, now in her late thirties, travels to visit her dying mother in Brooklyn, but that doesn’t stop her anger and abandonment issues from bubbling up. It doesn’t stop Daphne from voicing her opinions on how Claudette lives her life, either. With Daphne, Claudette, and Valerie all under one roof again, each family member is forced to confront their emotions while there’s still time.
Though rooted in buried strife and sadness, How Black Mothers Say I Love You is full of humor, love and tenderness as it explores the complicated perceptions of immigrant mothers.