A Strange Loop

winner of every best musical award on broadway

Must end 9th September 2023

Proudly calling itself the "the big, Black, and queer-ass Great American Musical for all", A Strange Loop could also be described as 'Inception' meets the #BlackLiveMatter movement meets Beckett. It's part absurdist comedy, part socially-charged think-piece, but utterly and completely loveable. 

With a book, music and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson, A Strange Loop both celebrates 'Black Broadway' as well as draws attention to the many (many!) inequalities which still exist. The musical was first performed in 2019, at the Off-Broadway Playwrights Horizons before moving to an off-Broadway run in Washington which finished up in early 2022. In between both those runs it managed to win a certain prize for Drama, nothing other than The Pulitzer Prize for Drama

What is the story?

Our main character is, well, big, Black, and queer-ass - just as the musical itself proclaims. While he works front-of-house in a Broadway theatre he is also struggling to write a Broadway musical about a theatre usher struggling to write a Broadway musical. Life imitating art imitating life imitating... and that's where the strange loop comes in.

This brilliantly written ensemble piece shows the various thoughts, beliefs, and affirmations our main character has on a daily basis as they jostle for his attention. It's something we can all relate to, whilst at the same time drawing our attention to the lived experience of the Black LGBTQ+ theatre community. It's no wonder several critics have called A Strange Loop a vital piece of new American theatre.