Through its depiction of eleven discomforting, but humorous, vignettes that satirize African-African culture, George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum has received numerous accolades and honors throughout its production history.
Now, the show will be found in Athens when Les Joueurs Noirs presents the play, beginning Thursday, at ARTS/West.
Directed and produced by Kaila Benford, the play continues Les Joueurs Noirs’ tradition of showcasing human activists who hope to explore the human experience through theatrical performance. The topics covered in these presentations typically include race, sexuality, gender and economic inequality.
“When Kaila came to me with the idea, I immediately shared my interest in wanting to help with the show,” said Chanel Glover, a third year MFA playwright. “The Colored Museum is one of my favorite plays, if not my favorite play, and I jumped at the opportunity to be involved with staging a show with an all black cast.”
Although references to modern elements like Rihanna and the recording of certain segments have been added here and there, Benford and her group tried to remain close to the original text and its messages and values, while at the same time adding a mix of modern and traditional elements.
“I am excited to be a part of a show where many of the School of Theater actors of color have the opportunity to delve into rich, three-dimensional characters,” Glover said. “This show has already been rewarding. Witnessing these actors progress is a satisfaction beyond measure. Ultimately, I believe the audience will leave the theater questioning how they view being black in a contemporary world.”
This play was put together when the group wanted to try something interesting while outside the School of Theater.
“I looked at a whole bunch of different plays, but I’ve seen this one done a number of times, and I feel that it is a good message around now, about gender, and all these different identity crises going on now,” Benford, a senior studying performance said. “So I thought this play would be good to go up and produce.”
Although some things like gender swapping in certain roles, raising money and other challenges came about, the play has been able to move quite fluidly, and those behind it hope that audiences gain a great deal from this show.
“I feel the message within it, and what it’s saying, goes out to a lot of people,” Benford said. “That is what I really hope, seeing a group of minorities trying to deal with being minorities, how they define identities, and all these things. I feel like this is a play about minorities, not just black people. The same plot line and everything could be used for Latinos, LGBT (people and) women, just like gender issues. That’s why I just hope people get that idea, more than just that this is a play about African American struggles.”
Kelly Lawrence, an event coordinator for ARTS/West, noted that while the show doesn’t have an admission cost, “donations will be collected at the door that will proceed the NAACP and ARTS/West.”
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