Papa's Blues

Nathan is a man of pride and ambition struggling with racism, unemployment, and haunting memories of his father, Big Joe. Big Joe was murdered while Nathan was still a boy. Big Joe was an adamant civil rights activist and a source of pride as well as disappointment for his son, but he instilled in his son the importance of the civil rights movement principles and the necessity of belonging to something both spiritually and racially uplifting. However, Nathan's failures at mastering fatherhood provoke him to drink and partake in illegal activities. His lifestyle and his broken marriage distance him from the joy of his life, his own son, Rashon. The play is told in flashbacks by Rashon, who speaks of the trials of his family as they unraveled 13 years ago, telling us the story of his father's blues.