‘Black is the Colour of My Voice’ takes on the phenomenon of gospel, jazz and blues icon Nina Simone, and her activism leading up to and during the height of the civil rights movement in the United States. Fictionalising events and names so that it serves more of an ‘inspired by’ or a ‘representation of’ the life of Simone, there is a shared understanding of this unofficial autobiography being that of Simone.
This solo show stars Florence Odumosu as Mina Bordeaux, unpacking her life in the wake of her father’s death. Odumosu navigates Bordeaux’s early years – wowing her family with her piano playing abilities at the age of 3 reciting her mother’s favourite hymns, through to unresolved youthful crushes and turbulent, violent relationships with men, before climaxing with the death of Doctor King against the backdrop of violent and rampant racism in the States and Bordeaux’s fragile yet defiant reaction to this. Throughout, Odumosu’s performance is focussed. Her voice is excellent, and she leans into the fictionalised singer and activist with great verve. Her emotive calibre endures. Unfortunately, much of this play’s successes stop there.
For a professional production that is so clearly about the life and career of Nina Simone, the glaring absence of any musical instruments on stage was damaging. Whilst it cannot be determined if this was a complete oversight or a deliberate decision, regardless it left a gaping hole in the work and is negligent for a production of this scale and scope. Simone’s legacy deserved more than backing tracks. Is music not important anymore? Is it a second-rate medium in the eyes of the creatives of this show, one about a woman who used music to fight racial injustice and change the landscape of the US during a period of violent political and social instability? The show’s title evokes the musical. To neglect the significance of live music in this show is to blunt the sharpness of Simone’s activism and sociopolitical prowess. It is letting the air out of the tyres of the vehicle Simone used to drive toward change. It is a heavy-handed dilution.
The production feels incredibly disconnected from its subject matter because of this and therefore its audience. There was something harrowingly meta-modernistic about witnessing Odumosu give everything she can to the role on an isolating stage and set design, completely alone, with the sterile sonic palette of digitalised backing tracks fruitlessly trying to meet Simone’s soulful croons and emotive expressions. It’s a nightmarish spectacle. Apphia Campbell’s direction and writing is unfortunately lacking. The Crucible stage felt far too big for this production. There were corridors of darkness surrounding the domestic set that acted as walls between audience and performer. Odumosu feels penned in and we feel penned out. We feel like distanced observers, not participants. It’s an uncomfortable perception, made more uncomfortable by frequent blackouts and dead space. Transitionally the work is incredibly basic and creatively stunted.
These alienating effects were accentuated by a script that was impenetrable in the ways you wish a script not to be. It was difficult and prosaic at times, and self-serving. The writing style evokes a soapbox delivery. It feels as if this show was written for no audience – that without an audience, the writing would still function in accordance to its own expectations and narrative cues. What is then the point of our presence if we are not essential? Is this documentary? Who is Bordeaux talking to? Does she care for our thoughts and feelings? What are the consequences of the dichotomy between her performative strength and genuine vulnerability? This is a one-way conversation that we are never made to feel welcome to participate in or influence into a dialogue.
It is always disappointing for a show with such important sociopolitical themes and content to fall short of the mark. It is even more of a shame when considering the history incredibly rich subject material in Nina Simone’s life. A complex, powerful, mercurial figure is unfortunately reduced to a shallow and minimalistic version of herself here – and this has nothing to do with the pseudonymous invention at the heart of the work. Black is the Colour of My Voice aims for the sky but is not equipped for such heights.
Reviewer: Louis Thompson
Reviewed: 17th October 2025
North West End UK Rating: