"In the World Premiere of Tyson's Song, Bryan and Tyson are two best friends out on their
last boys night out, but when the evening goes awry, the two Black men are compelled to
examine their pasts, and the true bonds of their friendship. Tyson's Song examines
he dominant thoughts surrounding Black masculinity, and mental health."
Tyson’s Song by Peter N. Bailey, presented by Pleiades Theatre,
runs from April 24 to May 19, 2024in the Factory Studio Theatre (125 Bathurst St., Toronto,
ON M5V 2R2). Tickets are pay-what-you-choose starting from $5.
Jamar Adams-Thompson and Kyle Brown take the stage for seventy five minutes and quickly
develop an intimate rapport befitting best friends who find themselves at a crossroads in their
young lives. Standing at a bus stop that becomes increasingly elusive as far as a bus actually arriving,
the two young men share trials, tribulations, and the long history of support and camaraderie they are
about to see change as they face growing up and out of particular environments they have inhabited for
a substantial part of their lives.
Playwright Peter N. Bailey speaks eloquently of the discourse inhabited by these two strong
yet vulnerable young men as he describes the impulse for writing the play;
I wrote Tyson's Song, because I believe there was a need for a new kind of conversation. I see
more and more spaces being created by black men for the purpose of connecting with other
black men. There is a growing sense among us, I think, that recognizes our survival is
dependent on many things, but in this moment, maybe none more important than our ability
to create the kind of spaces and the relationships that allow us to acknowledge our vulnerability without
the fear of it being used against us. Common's rhyme on "Real People" resounds in my mind
I guess knowing' I'm weak is when I'm being' strong.
The strength, through deliberation, and compassion for each other, even in times of conflict,
