Big Pimpin’ at Gusman

“Yeah, I bet I disgust some of you black women out there, but every boy out there on them streets wants to be just like me. A player. An entrepreneur of bodies.” That’s a line from the pimp character in Diary of Black Men: How to Love a Black Woman. The underground hit play won the first NAACP Theatre Award and has toured everywhere from New York to L.A., Miami, and London for the past 25 years. Director Russell Andrews says, “The play deals with male and female relationships from a black man’s perspective through six different black stereotypes. It’s the precursor to all these men runnin’ round in dresses and shit — Madea stuff. I ain’t mad at them, but that’s not where we’re coming from.” The play is known to elicit strong emotional reactions from audiences. In an early scene, a frustrated, out-of-work character slaps his woman to the ground. Andrews says, “Flawed as the characters may be, they all have the potential for change. Each comes from a place in the black human conversation. The black family is in a state of crisis. We piss people off, but in the end, what we put onstage is love, honor, dignity, responsibility, integrity, and values that never change. And that’s why the play has sustaining power.” See it this Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 3 and 8 p.m. at the Gusman Center’s Olympia Theater Tickets cost $47.50. Call 305-374-2444 or visit gusmancenter.org

Oct. 22-23, 8 p.m., 2010