The Colored Museum

The Colored Museum
September 26th, 2008

Just last weekend I had the pleasure of entering a theater for the first time in a year. As the cast was fully comprised of Black/African American students, I found myself constantly being reminded that this great event was happening — and then after I ran into the director himself: Mr. Harry Waters Jr, I resolved to attend.

The first thing that I noticed was the program. I am quite attracted to these as they embody all the long hours spent to convey the intention of the presentation... it really seems that everyone who touched this production was thanked — this really felt like a community show. I knew the cast, I knew the staff… but I came in without knowing the premise: “join us in exploring our contradictions”.

I guess that the next striking feature of this production was the gender-bending that kept occurring (men acting as women, or men acting as drag queens). It was relieving for me to see POCs portrayed as queer — although I could still detect the humor that was derived from the knowledge that the actor is straight. Furthermore, the order in which different portrayals of the Black/African-American experience was important:

First we flew on a slave-plane… this tragic humor was concluded at the “off-boarding” — slaves exited on a conveyor belt, bound and sullen. We then moved on to issues of hair texture, examining how the fro and straight styles are defined while speaking to the difficultly of individual Black/African-American women on deciding on which to support. Embrace culture and rock the fro, or tone it down and wear it straight? Mmm…

The next piece dealt with portrayals of Black/African-Americans in the popular media — promoting booze, tobacco, but always staying “fabulous”… smile-click!-smile-click! The next scene featured a soldier permanently influenced by the savagery of war — the lighting was arranged such that his shadows created angelic wings; and he described the ‘merciful’ acts of murder he committed with maniacal joy as he felt that he was releasing his fellow soldiers from an indescribable, and secret, pain.

One of the scenes addressed many inter-family conflicts — and religion was yet again emphasized as central to the character’s emotional foundation. The scene addressed the treatment “smart” Black/African-American women face, alongside the pressures that drive that very same treatment… the young man comes home after a long day under ‘the man’, frustrated at his prospects and resentful of any other hopes.

Lastly, I wanted to end with the fabulous La-La — a performer, she has re-invented herself multiple times and left herself with ‘no history’… another scene addressed this flight from historical associations where a corporately-dressed man beat his former Temptations/Black Music loving self, only to find that his past was inescapable.

… after I watched the show, I found myself filled with pride that a cast of 6 could pull this off… and then I felt even better knowing that each show would open people’s eyes at the contradictory messages society sends to communities of color in the U.S.

Mmm.