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April Gentry-Sutterfield

*For Colored Girls* at PTC

2/10/2011

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Picture
It began with a conversation at Community Bakery.  I met with local actress Verda Davenport-Booher to get her interested in one of my projects.  Instead, I left interested in one of her projects.  At the time, it was just a seed.  She wanted to do something with Ntzoke Shange's *For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf* to coincide with Tyler Perry's film release.  She wanted to introduce young women to the beauty of the original.  I hadn't read the play, but it sounded like a worthwhile project to me.  "I'm in," I told her.

I read it and felt like someone hit me in the gut.  This is a tough play, and I didn't immediately see the beauty in it.  I read it again and again.  My mind began to open to the possibilities....and to the message of hope at the heart of this play.  Verda and I met to read and discuss the play together.  We still didn't know what shape this project would take.

Then Sheila Glasscock at Pulaski Tech asked me if I wanted to direct this spring.  I thought of our student body--the majority of which is African-American female.  I thought of the possibilities for discussion this play would provide.  I talked to Verda, and we said "Yes."

We have rehearsed for almost a month now with a cast gathered from our student body as well as the Little Rock/North Little Rock community.  We have a partnership with Laman Library in North Little Rock to facilitate a series of community workshops. At the first two, participants will read and discuss the play.  At the final workshop, participants will create a collage and writing inspired by the play.  We will exhibit their finished work in our performance space.  And we have a partnership with Mosaic Templars to use their beautiful performance space for free.  In addition to those community engagement endeavors:
      -many of the PTC English instructors are including *For Colored Girls* in their curriculum
     -the PTC Committee for Community Diversity will host an on-campus discussion panel the week after the play
     -the PTC Network for Student Success will have a special night to attend the play and host a "Real Talk" in which they will watch and discuss scenes from the film
     -young women from the LRSD Accelerated Learning Center will create living statues of the characters for the pre-show
     -young spoken word poets will write poems based on the young women's living statues to be displayed next to the women
     -I will lead on-campus workshops in which students create mini-choreopoems.
     -We will present selections at PTC's Poetry Night.

So THIS is what consumes my thoughts at the moment.  I can't wait to see how we bring this piece to life.

NOTE:  Image created by Amy Bonds and is current proof of publicity design--NOT final.
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    About the Author:  April Gentry-Sutterfield is a director, deviser, educator, and mom who uses theatre as a tool for social justice, education, and community engagement.


    Contact April at april@aprilgentry-sutterfield.com.

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