Absolute Negritude, Oui Be Negroes, at Bailiwick Repertory. Exploring the latitude and longitude of “negritude,” this latest revue by a primarily African-American troupe offers comic comments on an endangered heritage. Eschewing politics, the sketches instead skewer the contradictions of pop culture and the hypocrisies of history. A television executive (Hans Summers, the company’s token white) offers a lame explanation for the absence of black characters in the fall lineup: “We forgot.” A newly freed slave (Khristian Leslie) from the Terra Cotta plantation gleefully finishes the letter begun by his murdered master. A crack-cocaine promoter (Ronald Ray) touts the belt tightening that an addiction imposes. An irate customer (Shaun Landry) incensed by the racist gimcracks at a southern Stuckey’s attacks one stereotype with another. And then there’s a scary visit to a KKK mart…
