Phillip Butler, left, and Joe Anderson Jr. in Patches: A Black Gay Man’s Journey to the Moon launches Bishop Arts Theatre Center’s new season. (Photos by Frank Washington)
Texas playwright brings Black queer love to the stage in ‘Patches’
RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer
Rich@DallasVoice.com
Next week, Bishop Arts Theatre Center (BATC) will launch its 31st Anniversary season with the premiere of Patches: A Black Gay Man’s Journey to the Moon by Joe Anderson Jr.
This run is a homecoming for Anderson: Although he’s based in Austin now, the writer/actor/producer hails from just down the street from the theater where his play will open. Bringing Patches home is Anderson’s full circle Oak Cliff moment.
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Patches: A Black Gay Man’s Journey to the Moon
Written and staged by: Joe Anderson Jr.
Cast: Joe Anderson Jr., Phillip Butler
Live band: Jeff Gonzalez, Carlos Hernández, Carlos Jordan
Runs Oct. 18-27.
BishopArtsTheatre.org.
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“Part of the show was written here in Dallas and in Bishop Arts. I used to write this show at a coffee shop just blocks from the theater,” Anderson said. “To be able to bring something I wrote here, from where I am now in Austin to Bishop Arts, means the world to me.”
Patches runs Oct. 18-27.
The play itself is a mix of poetry, music and storytelling that tells the story of a day-long date between two Black men.
Although technically a one-man show, when these two characters meet with no plans, Patches takes the audience on the journey with them. Actor Phillip Butler is featured as the date.
Anderson presented the play first in his now-residence in Austin.
“The ‘OG’ Patches opened in August of last year at the Carver Theater in Austin,” he said. “It’s something I’m really proud of and glad to bring it to Dallas.
“Patches is this artistic gumbo with all these theatrical elements. I love that it’s storytelling rooted in my community but also, expect the unexpected.”
Anderson is a bit coy about personal information, but he does admit that this show is based in real life. He wrote poems about his own day-long date. In those poems, he explored his own vulnerabilities and attraction.
Those writings eventually grew into Patches.
He added that his own body positivity is another element that is important to his show. “I’m a bigger-bodied, gay, Black femme, and I love to show my skin,” he said. “I wanted to curate a story that gives hope to people like me.
“This confident Black man has someone who affirms him,” he continued. “We all want love, and I want people to see this and see that they are deserving; everyone is deserving of love.”
Anderson added that Patches was his opportunity to showcase a different type of romance from the ones we are so used to seeing.
“The world tries to tell me that I am not worthy or not sexy or not beautiful, but I have friends and people who affirm me,” he said. “I didn’t always realize my own value or see beauty in myself. Now I know I look good, and I know I am sexy, and I can give that positive energy to the world.”
Anderson is set on making the world a better place — whether it’s through spreading body positivity or engaging with the community for awareness. When he’s not coming up with a new play or spending time in Dallas, he’s back in Austin serving as the director of community engagement at Texas Health Action. His primary work is focused on reducing HIV disparities, cultivating relationships with community members and developing strategies to reduce stigma surrounding HIV and sexual health.
Anderson fuses his creativity and his social activism into works that center on Black queer experiences.
When Teresa Coleman Wash, executive artistic director of BATC, saw the show, she knew this was an ideal story to launch the company’s new season.
“Last year, I had the pleasure of seeing Patches at the Carver Museum in Austin,” Coleman Wash said in an email. “There were so many people in that theater that they had to bring in chairs to accommodate everyone. The energy in that place was so electric.
“I made a beeline to Joe after the show to invite him to open our 31st anniversary season,” she continued. “It was a no-brainer for me because Joe was born in Dallas; he grew up in Oak Cliff, and a lot of his material talked about the gentrification of Bishop Arts.”
Anderson said he’s not only thrilled for this homecoming experience, but to also be bringing his story of Pride to this stage in the place he grew up.
“When Teresa came to me, the most important part was that no one changed the story, and I was immensely grateful she saw it and got it,” he said. “I don’t want to be the first of anything, but I’m so grateful, too, that Bishop Arts Theatre Center wanted to amplify my vision of this Black and queer story.”
For tickets, visit BishopArtsTheatre.org.