Temporary Boyfriend

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Nile Harris and Malcolm X Betts
Temporary Boyfriend

For the world premiere of Temporary Boyfriend, artists Malcolm-x Betts and Nile Harris stage the nuanced poetics of their long-term collaboration. Drawing from past performances in each others works including Niggas at Sundown at New York Live Arts and this house is not a home at Abrons Arts Center, Harris and Betts render the friction and intrigue at the pith of their connection in this improvisatory duet. As the pair traverses the barren architecture of The Chocolate Factory, they journey across various touch points of relationality between Black gay men. From the kinship of ancestors lost to the AIDS epidemic, to contemporary manifestations of ephemeral gay brotherhood, Temporary Boyfriend is an intimate portrait of the aesthetics of proximity and estrangement.

Performed by Nile Harris and Malcolm X Betts

Sound Design by Geng PTP.

Scenic and Lighting Design by Dyer Rhoads

Costumes by Malcolm X Betts

Production Coordinator: Ariana Swei

Presented by The Chocolate Factory Theater, Ping Chong and Co. and Under The Radar Festival.

Production Photographs by Maria Baranova and Stephen Olweck

January 2025, The Chocolate Factory Theater.

Nile Harris and Malcolm X Betts Temporary Boyfriend

Nile Harris and Malcolm X Betts
Temporary Boyfriend