There is a famous line in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird in which the central character Atticus Finch, tells his daughter that “you cannot truly understand a person until you walk around in their shoes”. I think this quote can so easily apply to our current ever more polarized societies. It is more crucial than ever before to see the world through another’s perspective. Ain’t I a Woman will hopefully give audiences an opportunity to do just that with its production of five short plays, all written by black female writers, all five loosely linked to the theme of dystopias both in our present day as well as our imaged future. These short plays range from one which looks at an imagined process which can changed the ethnicity of a young black woman exhausted by the racism she daily faces, another looks at a world decimated by a virus, where a young black woman, a leader of a resistance, is faced with an impossible choice to make. Another looks at how a young black woman’s lack of self-worth leads her to dating app hell. All five pieces are directed by black women, with the production’s overall producer Lande Belo also a black woman. The production marks a continuation of a long-term initiative by Lande Belo to bring marginalised voices to the forefront. She produced a play before as part of this initiative.
Ain’t I a Woman, a quote taken from African American abolitionist, Sojourner Truth, who advocated for the right of respect for all women, including black women, promises to be an intriguing evening which will ask thought provoking quesitons. As a friend says of the production, it promises to be an evening of black girl magic!
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PETER DORE
