Freshman Benjamin Black presented his original work, “BLACK: A One-Man Show,” Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium. The show featured Black performing a series of scenes, portraying a number of different characters, playing the piano and reading several of his own poems, all on his own.

Several singers were featured before and after the show. Jessica Blake, Elisabeth Ross, and Darnell Woods opened the show with “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” William Christopher Casey played the drums for the last three songs: “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing,” which was performed by Woods, “What A Wonderful World,” which was performed by Ross and “A Change is Gonna Come,” performed by Blake.

In addition to performing the play, Black also wrote it. Toward the end of summer 2008, he saw the CNN program “Black in America,” which depicted the lifestyles of African Americans in the United States.

“[‘Black in America’] showed that we are the same as every other human being on this Earth who is in need of air, food, water, love, clothes and money,” Black said. “This program represented what the United States of America is, or is supposed to be, which is diverse. No two people are the exact same…after seeing this program, I felt that I had to write something to continue that point.”

Black met with Charles Harkness, the former director of the Multicultural Student Services, and Darnell Woods, the president of the Black Student Union, last semester and proposed the possibility of performing his play.

The “theme,” according to Black, is that people are individuals because of their stories and experiences. Throughout the play, there were numerous characters that have experienced different things, have lived in different places and, therefore, view the world differently. The play has been updated from its original version to convey a universal message about true love – God’s love.

“I think the reason we have turmoil between people is because we don’t love people,” Black said. “I’m not saying that we have to like everyone or try being friends with everyone we meet, but we should love everyone. My belief, as I express in the play, is that it is 2011, and it’s time we start acting like it.”

The show was free and open to the public.