The Talk in NEWS & REVIEWS

Audience Reviews

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I was blown away by your performance. Thank you for creating and performing such an important piece. ~ Christine Hinson Norris, Director of K-12 Outreach, Carolina Public Humanities

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It was a pleasure to be with you all.  What an amazing performance from Sonny and I though the energy in the room was just perfect for good discussion afterwards.  ~ Chris Blue, Chief, Chapel Hill Police Department

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Thank you sir!  I admire your ability to tell a story in such a vivid way that brought the audience into the picture.  We could see what you saw, and feel what you felt, even thought we did not experience what you experienced.  You have a gift that is being put to good use to spur critical conversations.  I enjoyed the opportunity to hear, listen and engage.  You have blessed us with your gift and your story, and I am thankful.

~ John W. Letteney,  Chief of Police, Apex Police Department

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Sonny Kelly, the author and star, is a terrific young professional actor whose autobiographic monologue is at once funny, heartbreaking, sobering and exhilarating.  However much you may already have reflected on this topic, I think you'll walk out with new food for thought and new ideas about how to engage with the questions Sonny raises.  If you’ve ever loved someone else wholeheartedly and yearned for the world to see that person in the way you do -- in all the fullness of their humanity -- this evening is for you. ~ Jennifer Boger, Board Member of Boomerang Youth, Inc.

Sonny's one-man dramatic interpretation of The Talk is a great exploration of what it means to be a black man in America. This well-staged and technically impressive production explores a remarkable range of complex issues--from personal and family history to the recent murders of black men by the police to the challenges of parenting a black son.  Sonny also weaves in a great range of references to important writers from W.E.B. Dubois to Ta-Nehisi Coates; and he shifts among various voices (from his grandmother to Barack Obama) with impressive dramatic versatility.  In most general terms, he shows how and why History shapes human lives every day and (by merging the layers of personal experience, black and white history in America, and the perspectives of major writers) he shows how the humanities enable us to engage with and respond to public and personal issues.  Sonny gives us the "public humanities" in action…~ Lloyd Kramer, PhD, Director of Carolina Public Humanities

I am a non-traditional student, a former military spouse of an Army Colonel for 25 years.    I have lived all over the world, and many places in the US—The Talk truly inspired me to confront the frontier of my soul, and what my role should look like both through community advocacy, as well as a national level…I do not think that anything or anyone has touched my emotions the way you have through your creation of The Talk. Truly a wonderful experience, that calls to the soul to take action! ~ Anne Parton, Public Policy Student, UNC Chapel Hill

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I really enjoyed the play a lot and so did the others. Afterward, we went out to eat and we talked about the play and what it meant to us and for many of us it seemed that we watched a play that gave us insight on ourselves and the world around us. On a personal note, I was really touched…I just wanted to say that seeing your play taught me a lot not only about my race but also about myself. I cannot thank you enough for what you did for us. I definitely plan on reading the books referenced in the play. ~ Jacqui Singleton, Church Youth Group Member, Martin Street Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC

We just believe your performance needs to be seen by more and it so well connects to the work we do. ~ Tami Pfeifer, Executive Director, Boomerang Youth, Inc., Chapel Hill, NC

Sonny raises the voices of over 20 characters and calls the audience into deep reflection and inspired action regarding racial division, marginalization, and violence in the U.S. At the conclusion of Sonny's experiential performance, a panel discussion - which included a local Facebook Live discussion host and the Chapel Hill Chief of Police - allowed the audience to speak candidly about their own experience and build solidarity for social action. ~ Elizabeth Snyder, Co-Founder of Applied Culture Group

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Sonny perfectly balances an intellectual understanding of race theory leading to "the talk" with the emotional heartbreak of a parent having to tell his child that the world will judge him based solely on the color of his skin.

~ Joseph Megel, Artist in Residence, UNC Chapel Hill Communication Department