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