Kulwa M. Apara structures her autobiographical solo show, “Brain Like Berkeley,” as a multiyear course of study. Shard-like scenes have names that sound like college classes: “Plant Biology 40: The Secret Life of Plants” depicts a vivid scene chopping onions “on linoleum counters with faded Kool-Aid stains.”
The coproduction by Brava Theater and Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience takes a poetic, kaleidoscopic look at the life and mind of a third-generation UC Berkeley grad. “It’s a satirical objection to the oversexualization of Black women and the minimizing of our thought and ethos,” Apara says at the top of the show.
Directed by Kehinde Koyejo, the piece observes the world from an off-center angle with compassionate, all-seeing eyes; it dives headfirst into untamed visions. “Girls whose mothers died too young have a way of being up close while always remaining afar,” Apara says at one point. At another: “Spiritually sterile landscapes have always been dangerous spaces for fertile Black frames.”