Five on the Black Hand Side is a comedy play written by Charlie L. Russell. It premiered in 1969 at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and became one of the most produced Black plays of the era.

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The TST version, directed by Nancy Cheryll Davis and Nancy Renee, stars Ishtar Uhvana, Veronica Thompson, Dan Martin, Craig Sims, and William L. Johnson (seated).

 

The story centers on the Brooks family, a working-class Black household in Chicago during the late 1960s. Mr. Brooks, the strict patriarch and tailor, clashes with his son Leonard over Leonard’s decision to grow an Afro and embrace Black Power aesthetics, ditching the processed “conk” hairstyle his father insists on. This sparks broader generational and cultural tensions, with the mother, sisters, and other family members caught in the middle. It’s a sharp, humorous take on Black family dynamics, pride, assimilation pressures, and the rise of natural hair and militant identity.

 

The play was adapted into a 1973 film directed by Oscar Williams, starring Clarice Taylor as the mom, Leonard Jackson as the dad, Glynn Turman as Leonard, and others like D’Urville Martin and Virginia Capers.

 

It’s still performed today for its wit and relevance to Black cultural shifts.