What I liked
It is a given that Cooper is a natural storyteller and a gifted writer. I enjoyed the way he used his athleticism to enhance the storytelling, from miming sports, and games to fights. Likewise, the use of visuals was extremely effective, in its simplicity. The class pictures were worth at least a few of his many words, and the childlike drawings helped create the right mood.
What I didn't like
I really loved the show. If I have to nitpick, I’d say that more work could be spent in creating vocal characteristics for his many characters. Some of the white characters, no matter their age, sounded as if they had loose false teeth.
My overall impression
Born black in a historic black town, raised good-old-boy in a mostly white town and what do you become? Cooper Bates became a thoughtful, gleeful, funny and deep teller of stories. He conveys both the joy of growing up in a small town with an abundance of friends and activities and the ugly eruptions of racial and family violence that make finding his true self a struggle. Never the list, as the play progresses, we see a unique individual stand up and use a combination of strength, patience, and humor to form a positive world view and teach himself as well as his erstwhile enemy that we all should honor our best selves, but no one owes loyalty to a stereotype .
