“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-family: Verdana;”>“I wrote that in one setting,” poet Shirley LeFlore said of her poem “Rivers of Women.” “And I did it because I thought about all of the women that lived inside of me.”
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The many women within LeFlore will take center stage next week as the anchor piece and namesake of a theatrical tribute to her poetry at the Missouri History Museum.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I want the piece to showcase the value of women – especially to themselves,” she said. “And give people a glimpse into the heart of women, the soul of women, the frivolity of women, the freedom of women, the bondage of women – every aspect.”
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>It’s not the first time that LeFlore’s work has been staged for the theatre, but this presentation is a bit different. She is passing the torch of creative control and watching as a new generation offers her words, wit and wisdom.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I’m watching like an audience, not like a writer,” LeFlore said. “I’m really enjoying it.”
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Platinum R&B artist Monifah will star, alongside Leah Stewart, Nicole Thomas and Kelley Jenkins. Rivers of Women also will mark the directorial debut of best-selling author Lyah Beth LeFlore.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“They have free reign,” Shirley said. “I trust Lyah, and I trust Marsha.”
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Director Lyah is her daughter, and producer Marsha Cann is a surrogate daughter of sorts.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>The two met when Marsha was a student at Washington University and a member of the founding company that would evolve into the Black Rep.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Once a regular student of Shirley’s poetry workshops and theatrical offerings, Cann – now a seasoned performer/director/producer – is paying forward the lessons she learned from Shirley to a new cast of artists.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>At rehearsal on Thursday at the Nu-Art Gallery, Cann and Lyah offered notes to the small ensemble of characters charged with portraying several generations of women.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Scenes span from beauty shops to prayer circles. Adjectives from “godly” to “gossipy” to downright “devilish” describe the women of Shirley’s world. They make for relatable experiences with our girlfriends and female “frenemies” that have crossed all of our paths at some point in life.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal; tab-stops: 1.0in;”>
“We know how
to boogie with the boogieman, we know how to stomp with the devil
and sing with Angels without a cracked note,” the cast recited in
one particular scene, while another highlights the power of a
woman’s prayer.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“So many women lived inside of all of us, and I think that’s what’s so exciting about being a woman,” Shirley said. “I think that’s also so tragic, because most women don’t know how many women live inside them so they can’t handle themselves.”
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Through
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>Rivers of Women to offer women a dose of embracing their many facets.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I take into account the psychology of these women,” Shirley said. “So many of our women, especially in earlier days, there was no place to get help – except for around the kitchen table. That was your support group.”
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>More than anything, Shirley wants women to be uplifted when they see their many selves on stage next week.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“I look at the power women have. We give birth to the world. We give birth to women who give birth to men – who find women to give birth to their offspring,” Shirley said.
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>“And I do think that looking at women universally, but especially African-American women, that she has been the channel of creation. She has also been the channel of love, even though she didn’t know it. And we are the vibration of peace.”
“margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: normal;”>
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>
“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”>Rivers of Women will take place Aug. 12 – Aug. 13 at the Missouri History Museum and takes place in conjunction with the American I Am: The African American Imprint. For more information, visit www.mohistory.org.
