This review was written by a TeenTix KC teen who is learning about arts journalism through the Press Corps, which provides teens with training and tools to respond to their arts experiences. TeenTix KC seeks to engage teens in the arts and amplify their voices. This may be the first time this teen has publicly expressed their opinion about an arts experience. Thank you for reading and supporting this teen’s development as an arts journalist.
Thanks to Teen Tix KC I had the opportunity to experience The Drum Closet at the Coterie Theatre, a coming-of-age play about two Nigerian-American brothers navigating high school, identity, and pressure in a predominantly white Midwestern community. Written by actor, playwright, and filmmaker Tosin Morohunfola, the play follows Timi, a freshman, and Kareem, a senior, as they chase leadership in drumline while learning how to survive school, family expectations, and the unspoken rules placed on Black boys.
I also had the incredible opportunity to interview Tosin Morohunfola and speak with him directly about where The Drum Closet came from and why this story matters so deeply to him.
When asked what the first spark for the play was, Morohunfola immediately pointed to his own life.
“Well I mean, I guess my whole high school experience and my whole life. First of all, I loved drumming, and I always wished I could drum and act at the same time. This story just made the most sense of just like telling a coming-of-age story, and a story about being the only Black kids in this Kansas community.”
For Morohunfola, the play wasn’t sparked by one single moment, but by years of lived experience slowly coming together.
“I realized there was a whole story in my upbringing,” he said. “So that was it.”
One of the central ideas of The Drum Closet is the idea of hiding parts of yourself in what Morohunfola refers to as “closets.” When asked what he hopes audiences take away from the play, his answer focused on choice and safety.
“The same ways that people hide parts of yourself, like I said, in closets. And I think the message I would want people to take is that there’s a right of ownership in determining how much of yourself you want to share with the world.”
He explained that for many people, keeping parts of themselves hidden isn’t weakness, it’s survival.
“For some, being enclosed in spaces of themselves is a measure of safety and keeps them safe. And for others, it exposes and opens and allows them to see and share parts of themselves with the people that they trust.”
Morohunfola’s Nigerian-American identity is deeply woven into the fabric of the play. When asked how his background shaped The Drum Closet, he didn’t hesitate.
“It’s everywhere. It’s all over the place. It’s in everything I do; the humor, the values, the discipline, the family aspect.”
He explained that the story holds multiple layers at once.
“This story, it’s about competition and adolescence and masculinity, you know, and also culture; family, cultural heritage, and the individual experience of being Nigerian that has been ingrained in me.”
Brotherhood is another key element of the play, and Morohunfola shared why it was important for the story to focus on brothers rather than friends.
“Not every time people don’t always say the truth to your inner, even close friends,” he explained. “This is a play about the inner part of yourself that you don’t show to the world.”
He described how The Drum Closet gives the audience access to the characters’ internal worlds.
“How do we get the heart of some of these boys? Well, we have to break the fourth wall and let us see what it’s like inside their head, self-talk, Shakespearean style.”
That choice, he said, was intentional for young audiences.
“Kids in the audience will identify with different ones of the characters,” he added.
For Morohunfola, writing The Drum Closet was not just storytelling, it was reflection.
“I think all of my life, I was the story,” he said. “This is literally my experience.”
Through the process, he found himself revisiting his own youth.
“I learned so much looking at the whole process of this play, going to high school and for myself, and these experiences that I wanted to share.”
Music plays a major role in that reflection.
“I wanted to share my love of music, my love of drumming, and the culture that was built around that,” he said, “in the same way that I wanted to share my love of Nigerian culture and the incredible vibrance of that.”
When asked why The Drum Closet feels especially important right now, Morohunfola’s answer returned to something simple and universal.
“Everyone identifies with family. Everyone identifies with competition. Everybody has relationships.”
Ultimately, The Drum Closet is a story about rhythm not just in music, but in life. Through his own words and experiences, Morohunfola gives young audiences permission to reflect on who they are, what they hide, and how they choose to move through the world, and in letting the characters speak from the inside out, The Drum Closet becomes more than a play, it becomes a conversation.
Huge thanks to TeenTix KC for this opportunity! I recommend getting a free TeenTix KC pass so you can experience this incredible show too.
Reviewed by TeenTix KC Press Corps member Alexandria Mondaine
TeenTix KC is a KC Studio initiative building a brighter future for our region by empowering young people to take an active role in shaping their arts community as audience members, critics, influencers, advocates, patrons and leaders. Any 13-19 year-old can become a TeenTix KC member by downloading a free pass which enables them to buy $5 tickets to participating arts venues across metro KC. Teens are encouraged to become critics and influencers by writing reviews and creating reels about the arts they experience using their TeenTix KC passes.
