arts & entertainment
‘Incognito’: One Man Discovers
His African American Father
PlayWrite’s WORD.VOICE.
Showcases youth Theatre
O
book review by kam Williams,
special to The Skanner News
“I grabbed the phone and punched in the
number… my heart pounding… My dad…
Thirty years later. ‘My name is Michael
Sidney Fosberg, and I’m your son!’ I blurt-
ed out.
‘Son? Well, first of all, I want you to
know that no matter what you were told, or
what you thought happened, I have always
loved you… There’s one other thing I’m
sure your mother never told you.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I’m African-American,’ he said.
My body went numb. I felt light-headed
and my legs began to give way. I braced
myself against the bureau… I sat down
slowly on the bed in stunned silence, trying
to breathe without trembling. My throat was
dry I struggled to respond, but all I could
say was, ‘Wow!’”
The author learning his father was black.
(pgs. 71-74)
Michael Sidney Fosberg was raised in a
lily-white, Chicago suburb at the height of
the Civil Rights Movement by his
Caucasian
mother
and
stepdad.
Consequently, he grew up blissfully
unaware of the fact that the real father he’d
been separated practically at birth from was
black.
A Jew-fro and a slightly swarthy com-
plexion were all that made Michael stand
out in family photos taken with his parents
and two younger siblings. His mom
explained away the differences in their
appearance by saying that he was part
Cherokee, an excuse which her emotional-
ly-conflicted son bought until he bottomed
out in his Thirties while trying to make it as
an actor in L.A.
It was then, after almost dying of a drug
overdose, that he resolved to turn his life
around, despite having thus far frittered
away his adulthood in rudderless fashion,
between substance-abusing and serial wom-
anizing. With the help of Alcoholics
Anonymous, Michael soon sobered up and
came to understand the role that “the loss
and absence of my biological father at such
an early age” had played in his self-destruc-
tive patterns.
So, he pressured his mother for info about
his paternal roots, and she provided him
with a name, John Woods, and a hometown,
Detroit, without divulging anything about
her ex’s ethnicity. Therefore, it’s easy to
imagine Michael’s utter shock upon learn-
ing that his long-lost father was African-
American.
He soon shared the big development with
his half-sister, Lora, who took the news in
stride, matter-of-factly remarking, “Damn!
My brother’s a brother.” And that was only
the first of numerous jaw-dropping disclo-
sures about to come out of the closet. As it
turned out, Michael’s dad had remarried
after divorcing his mother but had then
another mixed child with a Jewish mistress
of many years.
Worse, Woods was unemployed, on the
run from the law, and doing his best to avoid
a stiff prison sentence for bribery. So much
for Michael’s dream of an idyllic father-son
reunion and making up for lost time.
With his dad first evading authorities and
then behind bars, Michael instead immersed
himself in African-American culture, even
becoming engaged briefly to a sister who
unfortunately turned out to be a gold digger.
Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking,
Incognito is a riveting and revealing autobi-
ography of self-discovery with a message
most reminiscent of that age old maxim,
“Be careful what you wish for!”
n May 24, join
P l a y W r i t e ’ s
WORD.VOICE. spring
showcase featuring plays acted
and written by at-risk youth.
The event takes place at 7:30
p.m. at the World Trade Center,
121 SW Salmon St. in
Downtown Portland.
Tickets are $10.
PlayWrite provides work-
shops in which theatre profes-
sionals and other artists coach
at-risk youth to create and
direct their own plays. The
results are twofold: The young
writers discover their voices
and learn that art is a form of
truth that can help them figure
out how to live. And audiences
get to see visceral, powerful
theatre that offers the satisfac-
tion of transformative experi-
ence.
Twice a year recent plays and
songs are chosen for perform-
ance at the winter or spring
showcase. Professional actors,
singers and musicians
perform the work under
the
direction
of
PlayWrite
graduates,
giving the young writers
a second opportunity to
work on their creations.
Victor Mack, who is
starring in the Portland
Playhouse’s production
of “Ma Rainey’s Black
Bottom” says it’s very
rewarding to be working
with kids.
“I’ve been involved
with helping at-risk kids
create theatre since I
lived in New York and
worked with the 52nd
Street Project,” he said.
“As an actor I enjoy get-
ting direction from the
kids and seeing their
faces when their plays
come to life on stage.
You help them open up
and see things from a
new perspective.”
Victor Mack
To order a copy of the book Incognito,
v
i
s
i
t
:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN
/B004D5909U/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
To order a copy of the DVD Incognito, an
award-winning, one-man play written and
performed by Michael Sidney Fosberg,
v
i
s
i
t
:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN
/B004RCGFGU/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race
and Self-Discovery
by Michael Sidney Fosberg
Incognito, Inc.
Paperback, $20.00
330 pages, Illustrated
ISBN: 978-0-615-41396-9
may 18, 2011 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 7