By
Darlene Donloe
“A
hard dick has no conscience. Says it all, don’t it?”
Well,
maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t. The
answer may be revealed in Peter J. Harris’ play, The Johnson Chronicles: Truth & Tall Tales About My Penis, set
to open tonight at the Matrix Theatre in Hollywood.
A
week ago, at an empty Matrix Theatre, I caught up with Harris and Terrell Tilford, the star of the play, as
they were waxing lyrical about the show and about their friendship. The two of
them together are hilarious. Their priceless banter and quick repartee is that
of two old friends who have a loving, familiar and respectful acquaintance.
Tilford,
casually dressed in a striped shirt and shorts, is straddling a bench on the
stage, while he goes over his script. A bespectacled Harris, donned in a green flak jacket, black
t-shirt, jeans and sandals,
is pacing back and forth with a confident
energy.
They
are literally on the same page when it comes to presenting an updated version
of Harris’s classic tome. At one time Tilford directed Harris in the Johnson Chronicles. Now it’s Harris’s
turn to reciprocate. For Harris there was only one man who could bring the
strength, sensibilities and skills to this one-man show and that’s
Tilford. Previous incarnations of the
show had several males presenting the material as a reading. This time it’s being presented as a solo
production.
In
the Johnson Chronicles, Tilford plays
My Man, a character who speaks on the Truth
and Tall Tales about the pleasure and pain of living with Johnson, the
all-purpose African American euphemism for his penis.
Nothing
is held back in this show. Harris has constructed a heady presentation that “confronts
My Man’s personal, political and mythological Johnson in bold, funny, sensual,
historical vignettes, intellectual dozens, vows, and affirmations about first
sex, size, fatherhood, intimacy and intimate violence, vasectomy, and the
impact of racism on his humanity and sexuality.”
The Johnson Chronicles has been described as a
poetic, conversational, 'body memoir' about the black penis.
Harris
says he got his inspiration for the show after a friend invited him to see Eve
Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues.
Please
note: this show is FOR GROWN FOLKS ONLY!
Following
is a brief discussion I had with both Harris (PJH) and Tilford (TT).
 |
| Playwright Peter J. Harris |
DD: Men are so connected to their penises. What
is it about the penis?
PJH:
It’s conditioning. We get slighted. Conditioning at its worse reduces us to our
penises. You are seen as that thing that can have someone make money for
themselves. Johnson and the reproduction
system is what made money in tandem with the women’s reproductive system. It’s
also about our own internal cultural dynamics. If we’re not careful we will
pass on the worse of things. There is
nothing funnier than a big black Johnson joke. It’s like a “Yo mama joke,” ya
know? This is about every man being named My Man. If you hit the right tones that guy can
symbolize a number of other men. I’m in my 60s now. I should be wiser now. I am
wiser now. To go through divorce, custody battles and heartbreak, you get
seasoned. For me, if you are surrounded by the community of men. If you get the
right connection with the right dudes, the Johnson just becomes a part of your
body, except when it grows in power with a particular person who is your
partner.
DD:
What is it that a woman could NEVER understand about the penis?
PJH: I don't know. There is nothing mysterious
about it. If you are a heterosexual - you want his dick to work. Taking care of
my body is a lifelong thing to do. Isolating my Johnson is not going to keep me
alive. I don't’ like to mystify it. We
have to keep generating work like The
Johnson Chronicles. I’m a distinctive writer. My idea is to contribute to a
body of work. I’m striving for a simple humanity. History eliminated our
humanity.
DD:
How has the show evolved?
PJH:
I cut out some chronicles that were in the earlier readings. I refined some of
the other chronicles. We have found a new core to it. There is something about
the solo form that demands that you don’t kill your actor - because we have a
show on paper that was easily 90 minutes or more. When you’re investing one
person in the show, you want to make sure that person is a worker. I work
harder to edit myself - harder than
anyone else could. That’s how it’s changed in the most fundamental way. I’ve
given Terrell more room to absorb the pieces.
DD:
Why did you choose to direct?
PJH: I’m directing this to get some basics in
place. The collaboration and the fearlessness to collaborate has kept us on the
balls of our feet.
 |
| Terrell Tilford |
DD:
Terrell, at one point you directed this show, now you’re starring in the
show. Talk about each experience and
what each does for you?
TT:
Having been in the biz a long time, as you get older you know more things, it
gets to a point when you know you have a stronger point of view, which is why I
wanted to direct the previous version. This has been a collaborative process in
terms of him (Harris) being open to us being open and candid with each other
the entire time. He likes creative conflict. It’s out of that conflict that has
gotten us to where we are today. We are in a good opening position.
DD: Tell me about the first time you heard about
and saw this show?
TT: I heard about it when he did some excerpts. It was a different voice. Upon hearing the first
audio of it, you go, “Shit, this guy is on a different trip.” I thought he was
crazy. Listen to what’s being said. There is a vibration within the tone of the
work that it was honest and sincere. If we allow ourselves to get to that point
then we’ll find the dichotomy in it. And the stuff we relate to and that which
has no connection to us. But that wasn’t the experience. The first reading I
thought he was on to something.
DD:
Why did you want to do this show?
TT:
I didn’t think I was interesting enough to do the show. I didn't think I had
the right temperament to be in the show. I didn’t want to do it at all. I only
wanted to be the director. I didn’t want it to be about me. I didn’t want Peter
to do it either because writers have a particular connection to their work that
they’re not open to in terms of the criticism while they are in the piece. But,
this brother was humble. We fought. Creative tension is good when it’s about
the work. Our egos was never involved in the work.
DD:
What are some truths and some tall tales about the penis?
TT: I don’t know where and how to delve into my
own truths. The voice within this in demystifying what the black penis is all
about. The myth is that we are Mandingo slinging apes that have no connection
to our humanity or any sensitivity. That we can’t have a logical or sensible
conversation with our partners and that we are incapable of having sit down
with each other and have a grown ass conversation. It’s about saying, I’m not
in the mood today. I’m just not. I’m stressed out. I’m thinking about bills.
Black men are dying at the hands of cops. Where and how can I celebrate life or
engage in this in the midst of that.” It takes two grown ass people to have
that discussion. It’s introspection of yourself.
DD: I saw a reading of this show a while back.
There were several men. This is a single male. It’s a solo show. What impact
does one guy bring to the show? Is it more
impactful.
PJH:
The impetus for this run of the Johnson Chronicles
is to bring in an actor I trust. He (Terrell) says I’m ready to go back. If
we’re going to do it, I don’t want to stop. It’s a lot of work. Joe Stern the owner of the Matrix Theatre was
very supportive.
DD:
But, why solo?
PJH:
The first reason to go solo was budgetary. For this run and given the work we’ve
done on the script. This is a seamless version. It seems natural. I can’t
imagine an ensemble now. It’s written by the prospective of one black
heterosexual male.
DD: Terrell, he chose you.
TT:
I’m humbled. This is not a vanity
project. I love what I do. I love honoring the work. The rest of it is the
universe. It’s going to do what it’s going to do. I don't have control over it.
When I get up on the stage, that's all its about. It’s about leaving it on the dance floor.
 |
| Peter J. Harris (YouTube screenshot) |
DD:
Peter, explain your process of bringing this show to life.
PJH: If I could characterize it, it would be
quietness. Trying to listen. Listening to what I’m actually saying and trying
to find the rhythm and the intonation. It’s about bringing the resonance of the
depth of the circumstances and then trying to let it go and repeat. I’m looking
for some version of that. There is no
one formula. Every piece of art requires something different.
DD:
Terrell, you and Peter have been inhaling this show for a while.
TT: For this particular piece, Peter and I have
been at it longer than a normal process. We started four months ago. We were
trying to get ready to go to Washington, D.C. I still wasn't tapped into the
understanding. I didn’t understand the piece at that time, not what I think I
needed to understand for the piece. When we got into the regular process here,
I asked if Peter and I could just meet at my house and just talk and listen,
and find the heartbeat and the through line.
I feel like we’ve weaved together a symphony. It’s a beautiful piece of
music.
DD:
What does theater do for you?
TT:
Television is my mortgage. Film is happenstance and theater is my bloodline.
Theater is my greatest gift to myself. It’s because of the immediacy of the
connection. I wish the stage was as narrow as a tightrope. It's the highest
vibration.
 |
| Terrell Tilford in Take Me Out |
 |
| Terrell Tilford (foreground) in Stick Fly with Chris Butler |
DD:
Peter, why is Terrell the right person for this one-man show?
PJH:
That's the irony to me. I met Terrell at World Stage in the 90s before he went
to grad school. He was an around the way dude. I know how serious he was. I
remember him pulling me aside and saying, “I m going to grad school to get my
MFA.” I knew he would have the chops. I’m a fan. I saw him in Take Me Out and Stick Fly. I also saw his Shakespeare stuff. I like working with
people who are serious. He and his wife,
Victoria [Platt], are good people. What I do know is that he “gets” a lot of
stuff. I knew he would work hard. I wanted someone who took seriously that they
are professional actors. I’m not an
actor. I know the work he has put in for his craft. He has a great presence as a dude. He’s not
just handsome - he has a presence. That's the dude I saw stalking a stage. He
was always my first choice. I saw him chewing it up and chanting it up. That’s it in a nutshell. I haven’t been disappointed. I’m about the
culture. I’m about the work. He stands for integrity. This guy is a
contemporary curator of African American art. This dude loves this culture. We
are in association. We talk about everything. I’m quick to think, “What do you
think?” Lets set the highest standards
we can set.
The Johnson Chronicles:
Truth & Tall Tales About My Penis stars Terrell Tilford and is written and directed by Peter J.
Harris. Thomas A. Gordon Ph.D/TAGA
Consulving is the associate producer. Inspiration House PopsnAde/Restorative
Notions, in association with YardBird Media.
The Johnson Chronicles:
Truth & Tall Tales About My Penis, The Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles, CA
90046, 8 p.m., Fri., Sat., Mon. through Aug. 7; tickets @:
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