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VERSES AT WORK - SYNOPSISVerses at Work is the story of a young man become grown. That journey hits a snag, when Malik leaves the power to control his destiny, in the hands of others. Through his hopes, dreams, loves, and losses, we experience one constant variable: his verses.
Verses at Work explores fascinating nuances of contemporary Black manhood. What role does self-determination play in the paving of a life path? What roles are already constructed for Malik? Which ones does he reject? Which roles does he accept? In this piece, Malik finds he must reconcile the expectations of the world with his expectations of himself. Navigating that treacherous terrain becomes a road map to making a life. Every ‘verse’ in the play is a conversation about that struggle. Verses at Work poses questions about the insidious role institutionalized racism plays in the trajectory of a life. Whether the effects of said racism are perceived internally or actualized externally, the results are the same: lowered expectations and frustrated ambitions. Along his way, Malik realizes that it is not only as an actor, that he is being typecast. Malik Work’s struggle also encapsulates the struggle of the developing artist in cities all over the world, especially the United States. How does one survive, while staying creatively sharp and available for preferred artistic opportunities? Many artists end up dabbling in the service industry, or the nightlife economy, and summarily never make it back out. Malik Work’s autobiographical narrative takes us back to a different New York City. Gentrification is just beginning to impact historically underserved communities. Hip Hop music and culture is reflecting the city’s changing landscape. Just ‘pre’ and ‘post’ 9/11, New York is the epicenter of urban renewal. New nightclubs are opening up, as old ones are closing down. The city’s nightlife is vibrant and fluid. Sensing an opportunity, Malik and his cohorts look to make their mark on the world of live music. In this distinctly original format, his verses testify to and narrate a quite remarkable tale: the transformation and evolution of both Hip Hop and himself. |
The Play |
The 2017 national premiere of the one-man theater show, the script’s original format, saw Work nominated in the “best solo performance” category of the Audelco Awards. The 2018 international premiere at the National Arts Festival in Makhanda, South Africa, was such a success he was asked to return the foolowing year. The South African press aptly named Malik “the griot from New York, Shakespeare of the streets.”
The 2019 reworked and shortened version of the script saw light as Nostos At Work paying homage to Odyssey and Greek theater and filled the room at the Park Avenue Armory during Sunday Salon: Spoken Word, for the 20th anniversary of the Friday Night Poetry Slam of the New York City’s renown Nuyorican Poets Café. In February 2020, the script was reinvisioned as an immersive hip-hop theater piece and presented to a full house at Nublu, in NYC, the very club where much of Verses At Work takes place. In October 2021, Verses At Work will be on stage again at The Public Theater. |
The Film |
The 2016 film adaptation of the original script directed by Lucas Mendes has successfully screened across the two coasts winning the “International Spotlight Award” at the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2016, and receiving recognition at the Harlem International Film Festival in 2017, and the Hip Hop Film Festival NYC in 2018.
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