‘The Bluest Eye' closes Sunday

Lorraine Hansberry's outstanding production of "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison, adapted for stage by Lydia R. Diamond, closes this Sunday, Nov. 11. I'd heard it might be extended another week, but such was not the case. I saw the play early on in its run and wasn't surprised that Alice Walker was in the audience opening night and spoke privately with the cast before she left. She loved it!

Currently, an adaptation of Walker's novel "The Color Purple" is on stage at the Orpheum theatre in San Francisco. There is much to recommend both these plays where African-American families implode, Black men lash out at their women, and in the case of "The Bluest Eye" and "The Color Purple," the girl child suffers. Where do the Celies and Piccola and Mr. and Mrs. Breedlove come from? Are they figments of an overactive imagination or do these spirits live in places unexplored, abandoned or barricaded behind locked and barred doors?

Walter Dallas presented the cast - stripped of their covers on a bare stage. All we saw were their lines - spoken boldly, at times like a chorus. The cast is superb, especially the Shinique S. Scott as Pecola, the sweet little girl who wants blue eyes so her mother will love her and others won't treat her so mean. In Picola's world, whiteness is beauty and black is a place that harbors fear, ill will and pain.

Actresses Carla Punch and Nicole Harley are strong in their portrayal of sisters Claudia and Darlene, who befriend Picola. "The Bluest Eye" is about friendship and families and how two little girls try to save their friend from the collision they see her headed toward -the play opens at the end and we see Picola on stage with child. She doesn't seem bothered by the awkward body she inhabits and near the end we see why.

Her friends reflect an attitude of resistance to a life of subservience, a life Picola and her dear parents have resigned themselves to. The Breedloves are so whipped spiritually and emotionally they hurt each other because that is the only way they can show each other love. Shamed by society for the love they have for each other, Picola's parents' rage eats at the core of their humanity like leeches soaked in lye.

When Cholly Breedlove looks at his little girl washing the dishes, her foot scratching her leg like Mrs. Breedlove would do, we see his inebriated mind confuse the two - his warped sensibility suspended until something snaps and he realizes what he has done. Picola lies unconscious underneath his body, his self-loathing is palatable once he awakens from his stupor; then he finds he cannot stop.

I don't hate Mr. Breedlove. He has enough inside for an entire people. I pity him. I wouldn't want to live with that too, his plate already so full of despicable crimes against those he supposedly loves. When she comes home from taking care of her white family, Mrs. Breedlove assesses the situation and blames her bewildered child for the rape. It's such a tragic story juxtaposed against one filled with such hope. Earlier the girls on the playground tell Picola that sex is the way people show their love for one another - what irony. Does Picola think her dad loves her?

Toni Morrison has painted alongside the Breedloves a healthy family with healthy relationships. Happy children and loving parents in the same community interact with Picola and her parents. They are so typical they don't even need distinguishing names. Perhaps Morrison is saying that the Breedloves are not the norm in the Black community; they stand out. The "normal family" deals with the same racism and imbalance of power Picola's family does, yet Daddy doesn't beat his wife and Mama loves her daughters.

The way one handles prejudice or the choices one makes are often determined by what one has to draw on. Is there love there? Love has the habit of making the worse situation somehow bearable. The Breedloves hadn't learned to love. Mrs. Breedlove ran away from home because of an abusive father and Mr. Breedlove was an orphan. When the two met, it was love until they left home and were strangers in a land that never embraced or welcomed them. They had no support network, no one who knew them and eventually they forgot who they were.

Tamiyka White is an imposing Mrs. Breedlove, as is Clara McDaniel as Mama. I really like the spunky Carla Punch as Claudia who is not going to let the fair-skinned Maureen Peal - actress Natasha Noel - make her feel inferior because she is darker skinned. She tears up her Christmas dolls looking for the place inside that makes these white dolls more special than she is. Vernon Medearis' Daddy is a relief from the intensity of Kieleil Deleon's Cholly, Picola's daddy. He's an intense man who believes love is pain, brutality and shame.

What a stunning first novel from the Nobel Prize winning author of "Beloved," "Sula," "Jazz" and "Song of Solomon." The play is at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter St., San Francisco, (415) 474-8800 or www.lhtsf.org. Shows are Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Kongo Odyssey

Saturday night I went to the marvelous tribute to Malonga Casquelourde's Fua Dia Congo at 30 years. Entitled "Kongo Odyssey: Two Continents, One Destiny," the evening was a multimedia experience that literally defined worlds. Kongo bridged so many worlds, crossed too many lines as the present was engaged to the future and the looked back at what had passed.

What I enjoyed most were the choreographic moments when Muisi-Kongo Malonga juxtaposed the archival footage with a reenactment on stage. One could hardly believe one's eyes as dancers stepped off the screen into the theatre looking as if time stood still. There were several times that evening when I saw footage of performances I'd attended, like the early Diata Diata or women drumming ensemble performances.
It was certainly our story, an African story, an African-American story that I hope continues to be told as rituals and folkloric dance traditions are preserved and expanded.

‘Grind & Glory' World Premier

NewVoices Media presents the world premier of its documentary film, "Grind & Glory: From the Streets to the Stage," on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 7 p.m., at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland. The film follows five young rappers from the Bay Area as they pursue the elusive dream of becoming hip-hop stars. Deeply inspiring, the film explores the lives of these young hip-hop hopefuls as they battle their environments and each other.

The screening will be hosted by Bay Area hip-hop star Mistah FAB and Silence the Violence, an Ella Baker Center campaign. Following the film, Mistah FAB will be in conversation with the young artists featured in the film.

This is the kick-off event for the film's Community Engagement Campaign, a series of six screenings around California that will use the film as a catalyst for further dialogue around ways to break the cycle of violence. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with the youth artists who are featured in the film. For more information, call (415) 312-1025, or visit www.grindandglorythemovie.com. To purchase tickets, contact Xiomara of the Ella Baker Center at (510) 428.3939 or go online at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

‘Stardust and Empty Wagons: Stories from the Katrina Diaspora'

Amber McZeal, Katrina survivor, stars in “Stardust and Empty Wagons.”

Last year this wonderful production had a couple of stagings with professional actors and actresses telling the saga of Katrina survivors in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a full stage production with live music this first week. There are group rates and free tickets for college students. Call (415) 647-2822 or visit www.brava.org.

The theatre is located at 2789 24th St., San Francisco. Previews begin tonight, Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 7- 8, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows are also at 8 p.m. Sunday performances are at 3 p.m.

‘Festival of Lies' at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Faustin Linyekula, the contemporary dance visionary, returns to Yerba Buena Center for the Arts with an extraordinary dance theater experience: part installation, part party, part community event. In "Festival of Lies," Linyekula, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, evokes "the ruins of his native land." Amid a street-fair atmosphere, actors tell stories of daily life and lies of a country misled. Meanwhile, a band plays, audiences eat and drink, dancers create and destroy landscapes of urban detritus, and propaganda fills the air.

The Thursday and Friday, Nov. 8-9, performances run a standard performance length. The festival culminates on Saturday, Nov. 10, with the full, marathon-length event of approximately six hours. Drop in anytime between 6 p.m. and midnight. Tickets are $30 regular, $26 students, seniors and teachers. Read an exciting interview with the director and choreographer on my website, www.wandaspicks.com. The YBCA is located at 701 Mission St., San Francisco, (415) 978-2700.

Amiri Baraka and Marcel Diallo in conversation

Timeless conjurers discuss and demonstrate the timeless craft, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m., at The Black New World Social Aid and Pleasure Club, 836 Pine St., West Oakland, $10. Join us for an evening of Black Word Magic with Amiri Baraka and Marcel Diallo. They will be discussing the role of the revolutionary artist and then giving us a taste of their revolutionary art with the assistance of the creative music trio ESP, featuring Kele Nitoto, Kimara Dixon and India Cooke.

Bay View Arts Editor Wanda Sabir can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Visit her website, www.wandaspicks.com, for an expanded version of Wanda's Picks and for exciting "web exclusives." Read the complete version of this column, with a review of "Miracle in Rwanda," at www.sfbayview.com.

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