ALL-BLACK FEMALE CAST IN “ECLIPSED” OPENS VCU THEATRE SEASON
By Lauren Bray
RICHMOND, Va. – An all-black female cast presented the five-time Tony nominated play “Eclipsed” at Virginia Commonwealth University. The cast and director wanted to educate theatergoers about the strength and perseverance of African women in times of despair.
Originally written by Danai Gurira, “Eclipsed” tells the story of five Liberian women and their survival during the end of the second Liberian Civil War. The Broadway play was the first to include an all-black female cast and creative crew.
The play is about survival, heroism and the power of black sisterhood, including themes of love, determination and building hope in a time of hopelessness.
VCU professor and director of the play, Dr. Tawnya Pettiford-Wates, wanted to direct a play that matched the needs of both her students and her creativity. She said this a story about women taking agency for themselves in difficult situations such as rape, captivity and kidnapping.
Pettiford-Wates hopes the audience recognizes the power, resiliency and ingenuity these women used to survive in the midst of turmoil.
“This is not a victim-play,” Pettiford-Wates said. “These women are very powerful, and I don’t want that to be lost.”
Pettiford-Wates hopes that the student actresses gained power from telling the story in their own voices as black women, saying they attend a predominantly white school and have to transcend white spaces.
“This is an opportunity for them to be culturally connected to their origins,” Pettiford-Wates said. “It’s not only a good thing, it’s the best thing.”
VCU student actress Asjah Janece, who plays Helena, said she has grown in many ways while playing this role.
“I feel like in America you don’t think about the atrocities that women face across the world,” Janece said. “It really opened my eyes and made become a more socially aware person.”
Janece said she hopes that people will make more plays like this for black women since there aren’t that many. She said many people aren’t very informed on the struggles of African women in general, so it is important to get the story out there.
“Many people don’t even know that Liberia had a civil war or that people suffered,” Janece said. “I want people getting involved and interested in the topic.”
VCU student actress Trinitee Pearson said taking on the pain and struggle of these women made this one of the hardest plays she’s worked on. She said that many people aren’t very familiar with the stories of African women.
“We don’t really pay attention to Africa, we usually just look at it as a third-world country,” Pearson said. “We don’t pay attention to their stories and no one is really telling the stories of them or black women in general.”