Late playwright’s women characters dissected at symposium
By Kenya Vaughn
Of the St. Louis American
“August Wilson has a pattern of excellence with creating male characters, but what about the women?” Dr. Sandra Shannon of Howard University asked. “Are we simply passengers along for the ride?”
Shannon posed this question to the audience and panelists Saturday at a symposium organized by the Black Rep entitled “Beyond August: The State of African American Theatre.”
The answer was obvious well before she completed her presentation – and was probably put best by the late playwright himself when she posed the question to him in a backstage interview years ago.
“Well, maybe you need to write your own play,” Wilson had responded.
As part of its 30th Anniversary Celebration, the Black Rep’s symposium series has been an extended conversation about the struggles, challenges and successes of black theatre and its future as an institution.
Wilson wrote from his firsthand, personal experiences and observations as a black man. What he offered Shannon was a challenge to see the black woman’s journey be brought to life.
Shannon provided a detailed background on Wilson’s female characters and served as moderator for the panel discussion and information session.
“Because of August’s work, I have a track where I can literally work from the cradle to the grave,” said Tony Award-winning actress L. Scott Caldwell.
What began as a topic of the purpose and presence of female roles within Wilson’s body of work quickly evolved into a discussion of the responsibility that African Americans have as a race for the images presented in the media and entertainment industry.
“I’m tired of playing the strong, sassy woman, being the soul of the play,” said Viola Davis, who won a Tony for her role in King Hedley II.
“There are times when black women are not strong; there are times when black women are stupid.”
“I don’t want it to be smooth and wonderful because life isn’t always like that,” Davis said. “I trained as an actor because I want to tell all of it.”
Davis said that black actors, writers and directors have an added pressure of representing or doing justice to an entire race of people with their work.
“We don’t do it to white (actors), but as black people we not only have a role to play, we have a responsibility,” Davis said.
Award winning director Lorna Littleway said that pressure adds responsibility for blacks on the performance side because of the lack of African-American influence behind the scenes within the executive and production elements.
“We as black people are not in the roles as decision makers,” said Littleway. “The images of African Americans are controlled by white people, and there are a lack of images that they want to invest in and identify with.”
Caldwell affirmed to the audience that black people need to step up and accept responsibility for the way blacks are portrayed within the industry.
“We have more control than we know – we just have to claim it,” Caldwell said. “We have the power to control our images if we choose to do so.”
The Black Rep’s current production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean will be running until April 15 At the Grandel Theatre. For show times and ticket information call (314) 534-3807.
The next presentation of Beyond August: The State of African American Theatre will take place on Thursday, April 12 at 4 p.m. on the campus of Washington University. The event will feature Segun Ojewuy, a professor of Directing and Acting at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
