Co ore
By Derrtc C. Le
SttJlf Reporter
Producer/Director Reuben
Yabuku's play, "The Colored
Museum," is a comedic
celebration of Blackness and
all the contradiction it en
tails.
With a vibrant and alive
cast the play coaxs and some
time drag the audience into
the realities of Black life. and
expo c them to a part of our
lives that at times we would
not Ii e to claim a� our own.
and to a cultural h ritage that
we sometime. forget. but ha e
to bring out of the clo et on
ceca ion to a crt our iden
ti tic .
Playwright George Wolfe
focus ' on how Black have
ri en to grcatncs from under
the foot of oppre ion. and
how we ometime forget or
ignore our pa t and pre ent in
order to be ccepted into the
vhi te world.
The 12 cene play i full of
everyday Black contradic
nons . A cene called 'The
Hairpiece. involves a � oman
trying to decide whether to
wear a kin y or tr ight wig
hen he goe to break-up
ith her boyfriend.
'LALA'S OPt-: I G' a
a parody of a well- nown
Blac fern Ie inger with Ion 1
hair and a Michael Jack on
no. e. who ha. th aura of
"You need me more than I
need you."
·S mb ros rs ' i nvo l c d a
man tra. lu nu all of hl� pe r
sonal Items whi h lin him to
Bla culture. but after all this
he. till ha to ontcnd ith hr:
undeniable blac me: s.
The most blatant contradrc
tion of all wa 'The Go pel
According to Mi Roj.'
featuring a homo exu 1 Blac
man ho could literally nap
a m n into a he rt-auac . Hi
rca tic me age to BI ck
wa to d nee in the face of the
drug problem. homele ness,
and BI ck illing c ch other.
"Attitude" wa con tantly
played on theme during the
play I o. A cenc in the play
called 'Cookin with .Aunt
Ethel.' h d an Aunt Jemima
type om D cooking a con
coction here he gave a
bu ly reindilion of the recipe.
hich included oppression.
the blues. jazz. and a little too
much atti tude .. to name a Ie '.
The '\ hole c n ocuon vas a
recipe of the Black expenen c
hich produ cd tod ay s
African-American.
Th la 1 cene of the play.
'The Party.' said to the
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MICHIGA CITIZt-:
PAGE .9
lac
ness
u
eurn: Celebra ion of'
audience, "Don't try to define
me cause I'm different than 10
years ago, even- 10 minute
ago." This is a message to
Blacks not to focus on urface
contradictions but to celebrate
an inner greatness which
sprang from more than 400
years of oppre ion, and a rich
African history.
"THERE'S A MAD ESS
in me and that madness set
me free." This was recited by
the cast in the last scene of the
play with picture of lynch
i ngs, and Black leaders being
cast on the stage wall. It wa
a recogni tion of the indig
nitie that Blacks have suf
fered and our struggles to
overcome. of our bitterness
toward the oppre or. of
I ivi ng and not jut urviving
through our rich cultural
heritage.
The play re.volved around
independent cenes, bur the
play tarted with drum play
ing. ended with drum playing,
and throughout the ccne a
drum could be he rd playing.
Yabuku indicated the drum
wa the symbollic thread
which brought the cen s
together.
"We thought we gave up
th drum, but it's till in my
heart. walk, the way I talk.
etc." aid Yabu u, "It symbol
ize. our oul." Yabuku inter
preted the play to e a critical
evaluation of Bl ack , and
Blac people re spon c to
treatment by white ..
He . aid the play, howca e
the old problem. and a k
what arc we going to do about
It. Yabuku aid the play i
cri u al of Blac hroadway
plays, be au. e they focu. on
no nconte rnporar y- is . ue
Continued from I'll e 6
mcnt, intimidation and phy i
cal violence. Certainly, uch
people cannot be called
"leaders."
A D FI ALLY, Bob Tal
h rt t ke i ue with the con
tention by a number of
African American that,
T lb rt pu.t· it, "there i orne
kind of conspiracy of white
to u e the legal y tem to per-
ecute blacks."
People of Tatbe rts ilk
Ii e to ignore the history of
the hite power tructure
versu the African Americ n
Man ... the hi tory that in
clude the King Alfred Plan
which w designed by the
Department of Ju uce, the
F.B.I.. and the C.I.A., with
rhe intent of de tabilizing
Yabuku tbinks it i time for
new material to be produced
which deal with todays
problems.
In 1988 "The Colored
Museum" sold-out 46 con
secutive performances at
Detroi t Repertory Theatre.
The theatre will ho t the play
until 21 October. Opening
nigh wa Thursday, 13 Sep
tember.
and/or destroying the 12
major Black organizations
then in exi tence.
And let u not forget Coin
telpro. the plot to pit the
Blac Panther Party against
other militant group in the
hope they would annihilate
ach other.
The e are not delusion of
p ranoid mind, Mr. Talbert,
the are fact .
You are not paranoid if
you believe there i a con
piracy in America to per
ecute/pro e cute Af rtca n
American when the federal
government pent clo e to
100,000,000 over a ten year
period to entrap and
pro ecute Wa hington, D.C.
Mayor Marion Barry, only to
have him found guilty of a
mi deme nor charge.
Thi the ame federa)
government that i crying
broke a ju ·tincation for not
pursuing forceful pro ecution
of the m ny white male
re pon i ble for the S vi ng
nd Lo n sea ndal , which
will cost the taxp yer more
th n $500 billion.
And. Mr. Talbert, there are
c urrc ntl y 77 African
American e le crcd offici I
under indictment aero . thi
country •• nd only 3 white
elec ed official .
Come, come, Mr. Talbert,
your white male brother are
not thai clean; But the fact
remains, white elected offi
cial are only inve ligated
whe their crime arc more
than apparent. while Blac
elec ed official are inve -
tigat d from the moment they
get in deci ion-making role.
We re not aying that
African Americans .ho u ld
.no t be ac c us c d and/or
puni h d for their crimes.
We are saying Ih I
Afric n American elected
official arc being per-
ecute d/pro e uted in order
to blunt their pos ible power
or wh tevcr, while crime by
while elected official re a
American as ppl pie.
It was Congrc srn n
W yne Hay' of Ohio who
chaired a ubcom mi t re e
which wa an off hoot of the
.Ho us e Committee on Ad
mini iration thai inve tigaJed
Adam Clayton Powell in the
late 1960' .
Le than a decade later,
the arne Wayne Hay wa
found to he keeping kno n
pro titute on h ede I
payroll. Enough