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Small Production: Big Voice

Posted November 20, 2009

If anyone is going to tell your story, it better be you. This is the concept behind KarynRose Bruyning’s play My Story, The Way I Sing It, which was screened this past Thursday on Barnard’s campus and hosted by the Rho Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.

 Inspired by a conversation with a friend, Bruyning morphed her story and the stories she received from interviewing a diverse group of young women into a full stage production. Written in a style that is an echo of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls, the play addresses stories stemming from childhood, familial relationships, parental pressures, and love in a very humorous way. In the screening there were many times when the audience burst into laughter as the actors shared common sayings that their mothers told them as kids, as well as times when the audience gasped in surprise at some less conventional world views that the characters shared. Apart from the inevitable surface reactions from the play, there are also times when the content lightly touches upon issues that are not so comfortable to talk about in an outright manner, and may cause for some internal searching for the sources of why we hold some of our beliefs so true to our core.

My Story, The Way I Sing It is definitely light hearted and approachable, but may not be the conventional play that Columbia community members often get the chance to see because of its candid nature of telling the stories of women who are normally silenced or misrepresented in main stream theater culture.

Sorry you missed the screening? There is still time to see it this weekend on Sunday, November 22nd at the Roy Arias Theaters located at 300 West 43rd Street 5th Floor (8th Ave). Tickets can be purchased for $20 online at smarttix.com. The play will resurface in the spring 2010, but if you’re looking for a feel-good outing this weekend, check it out!

Empowerment Through Art: “Black Panther: Emory Douglass” Exhibit

Posted October 13, 2009

White walls filled with Black faces. When I first entered the 2nd floor of the New Museum, my first reaction was,“Where’s the rest of it!”

Two hours later, I was still pouring through the emotionally charged images. “Emory Douglass: Black Panther” is an art exhibit that follows the very politically and racially charged era of the late ‘60s and ‘70s through the eyes of the Panthers and their Minister of Culture, Emory Douglass. At the time, the Panthers were considered one of the biggest threats to American society by the U.S. government.

As soon as you enter the exhibit, you are confronted by a huge mural depicting a boy selling the Black Panther’s newspaper, The Black Panther. From that moment on, you are taken on a journey where the images and accompanying words depict the troubles and triumphs that the organization faced. Grotesque images depicting the U.S.  government plaster the front pages of the very carefully preserved magazine issues, and mixed media images of “captured” Panther leaders and ink drawings of armed women and children are repeated themes in the framed images on the walls.

“An unarmed people are slaves or subjected to slavery at any given time.” “We are conscious of our position.” “For the people, by the people.” These are just a few of the messages that the exhibit conveys, but it is the images mostly created by Douglass that are the most poignant and sometimes pungent communication tools used to expose the racist interworkings of the government and the pitiable conditions of many Blacks. Yet, more than confronting the issues in the community, the exhibit successfully educates people about the community programs that the Panthers ran, such as the Free Breakfast Program and the Safe Program for senior citizens.

I was surprised at how fast my heart was beating as I peered at some of the images, but it only reminds me that one of the most powerful ways to convey a message is through art, and the mastery of Emory Douglass is no less moving in this exhibit.

Take advantage of the student rate of $8 at the New Museum and visit the exhibit before it closes on October 18, 2009.

Student Spotlight:Turning Up the Heat in the Kitchen

Posted September 16, 2009

“She’s red and her name is Ruby.” We’ve all heard of naming cars, but most other types of inanimate objects usually don’t earn a term of endearment. Except, however, if it is a prized possession, and for Tiffany Mitchell CC’ 2010, that is exactly what her Kitchenaid stand mixer is. This may be a little unusual for some people, but for the president of Columbia’s Culinary Society, naming her ‘can’t live without’ kitchen tool is nothing short of appropriate. (more…)

Ticking Time Bombs and BTE’s Theatrical Explosion

Posted April 25, 2009

If you haven’t gotten your ticket for the Black Theater Ensemble’s spring production yet, I highly recommend that you march yourself to the ticket booth right now and get one. I may be especially sensitive to powerful and provocative stories at the moment considering that I went to the movies to see The Soloist yesterday.  Yet, despite of what I would consider some hefty competition, BTE definitely stepped up the plate to deliver two amazing performances.

Lee Blessing’s Flag Dayis an in your face expose of race relations, stereotypes and how racism coupled with passiveness and/or confrontation can result in disaster. By disaster, I mean to say the numbness of the mind to the social ills that we either actively or inactively participate in constantly. It definitely makes one think about how even in settings and a time period where race shouldn’t be an issue- it still is. The cast does a good job of carrying their weight throughout the play, but it wasn’t until a few minutes after the play ended that I felt the full power of the play and the characters that each cast member brought to life. I have to admit that it took a while to completely understand and make sense of the two seemingly very different sections of the play, but it only makes one think harder ab0ut the many messages that the play channels to its audience.

As for For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, it was absolutely amazing. Point blank. From the musical score (a mix of Ntozake Shange’s original score and pieces created by the BTE directors) to the simple but poignant staging, it was powerful, unifying and uplifting. The actresses brought their all to the roles, and their personalities seemed to genuinely complement each other when they were on stage. The play of light in the stage direction complemented the piece as well, and the focus on the physical body was at times provocative and poignant, but the actresses never lets their actions overpower the words that they spoke. There is one more show at 8pm April 25th in Lerner’s Blackbox Theater, and like I said before- if you don’t have your tickets, get them now.