Review of Word Becomes Flesh: Fathers Stand up!

It's Friday night at 8pm. My producer Donavan and I are sitting in the front row of The Painted Bride Art Center; neither of us knew what to expect from the performance that was about to take place. All I knew was that the show was about the thoughts and fears of men as they await the birth of of their child; about the reasons why some men run from the responsibilities of being a father. What we witnessed was enlightening, entertaining and quite moving. Here, Donavan includes his thoughts on the production Word Becomes Flesh by Marc Bamuthi Joseph:

I'm sure the term " 5 heartbeats" conjures a different image than those I'll attempt to describe. Yes there are five men whom passionately perform to a crowd of musical enthusiast but that's only one dimension in this body of work. It's their heartbeats that perform to the delight of the audience . 

Word Becomes Flesh is Marc Bamuthi Joseph's introspective depiction through music, dance and spoken word. Marc captured the rites of passage from a black male perspective, artfully capturing viable, vulnerable and viral underlying principles that shape the scope of the male psyche.

Joseph and his cast of characters in motion show how self- preservation is at stake. This performance takes off the rose-colored lenses to acknowledge the internal and external struggle that exist as social ills duet with the poison pills of negative perceptions swallowed generations prior.

The music and dance are a melodic montage of masterful movements organically woven into the bosom of this performance.

MBJ is equally critical of the external and internal forces that subsist off of the human spirit but to its detriment .

Joseph's multipurpose cast enables the seamless intermingling of synthesized beats and percussion to partner with the DJ and create a very original soundtrack to the experience - Donavan West

This is a one of a kind performance that will leave you in thought and inspired. Tonight is the last night for the performance, go see it for yourself!

Word Becomes Flesh
Saturday June 4th 8pm
@ The Painted Bride Arts Center
230 Vine Street
Philadelphia, Pa 19106
For ticket info visit ThePaintedBride.org