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Winning five Grammys and an Emmy during his lifetime as a comedian and actor, Pryor’s body of work was a master class of stand-up and acting that pushed the boundaries of discussion on race, class, drug addiction and sociopolitical commentary.

Conversant on seemingly every cultural and sociopolitical topic under the sun, he sees himself and his work in the category of “social scientist. I’m just documenting things I see. I do it in cartoons. I think I use a lot of cartoon imagery just because it makes me less angry with people if I can turn them into a cartoon, even myself, like down there,” he says, pointing to a rough-hewn self-portrait emboldened by a big clown nose and jutting-out ears.

These works typically offer sociopolitical commentary along with the fishing and sleeping bags — and “The Colony” is no different.

Particularly when underserved audiences are living in the aftermath of devastating fires or escalating sociopolitical upheaval, Mello says.

Its worthwhile sociopolitical points and allegiances — it stands with women, immigrants and the poor, for natural dignity against mere manners — are writ large; its emotional entanglements are operatic, its heist narrative the stuff of pulp fiction, the boxing story the stuff of beat-them-to-a-pulp fiction.