Book Description

Color Me is the story of Johnathan Black, a painter who suffers from schizophrenia. Throughout the drama, his psychoses are represented by percussion and dance. The play follows Johnathan’s growth over the course of eighteen years, from the onset of his mental illness through his triumph over insanity as he accepts a position teaching art at a nearby community college. The play begins when Johnathan is only twelve years of age and the Black family is just finishing their evening meal. Johnathan’s birthday is arriving, and his parents have decided to give him weekly painting lessons to encourage his young talent. Susan Black is pregnant and will soon give birth to Johnathan’s only sibling, Anne Marie. Up in his room after dinner, as Johnathan finishes his homework, he interacts with the demons that will haunt him throughout his youth. His subconscious mind is plagued by nine demons altogether: one black, one white, and one for each color of the spectrum. When Act Two begins, Johnathan is a grown man, hospitalized on an inpatient psychiatric ward. The demons are with him in the hospital, filling the roles of the hospital staff as well as other patients on the ward. All the demons are progressively transformed from the colors of Johnathan’s subconscious mind to realistic, tangible characters with whom Johnathan interacts as he becomes grounded in reality. At the conclusion of Act Three, Johnathan, having accepted a job offer to teach art at a local community college, proposes to Claire.