INHERITED BURDENS OR ANCESTRAL STRENGTHS?: RACE-BASED TRANSGENERATIONAL TRAUMA IN BLUE DOOR

This study critically analyzes Tanya Barfield’s play, Blue Door: A Play with Original Songs in the light of race-based transgenerational trauma theories and offers a deep exploration of the protagonist Lewis’s internal conflict. Lewis, an accomplished mathematics professor, is in conflict with his black identity and he suffers from insomnia one night when he begins to engage in dialogues with the spirits of his ancestors. Through these spiritual encounters, Barfield portrays traumatic effects of slavery and racism, which clearly shapes African-American identity. Lewis’s interactions with the spirits serve as a confrontation with the weight of inherited trauma and the dissonance between his personal achievements and the cultural legacy he seeks to suppress. Barfield presents these moments as both traumatic and healing, illustrating the deep psychological toll of reconciling past and present. While the inherited trauma initially alienates Lewis from himself, the journey through his ancestral memories ultimately allows him to achieve a sense of healing. At the end of the play, Lewis reconciles with his sense of self and embraces his ancestral past as an integral part of his identity. This study pivotally focuses on race-based transgenerational trauma, identity crisis, and healing, highlighting the significance of cultural heritage on current conditions.