Hello Scribes!
I have never done this before, but I wanted to offer some reflections on a play I saw in Cleveland this weekend "When the Lights Go Out" written by Ronnie Holman. He was also the director of the show. From what I understand Ronnie did his homework about all of the issues and he and his lady friend made sure the cast was supported every step of the way. The fact that he did these things shows he has the mind of a visionary.
Kudos to you Mr. Holman for having the courage to be obedient to the call of the Scribe on your life. Keep writing, keep producing and keep watching God move. This is just the beginning for all of you. My ticket stub is blurry but the vision of the show was made plain. This is what I want Scribes to know about writing.
Everything the team did was with the spirit of excellence so tweaks will only make a good show better. A couple minor tweaks I would suggest:
The subject matter of the show was provocative and heart wrenching from curtain open to close. The writing style and flow was great; it was thoughtful, funny and Biblical. It taught us about love in different forms: skewed through manipulation and pure love from God. The importance of long suffering love of friends and love that covers a multitude of sins was highlighted also. In those two and a half hours I experienced emotions ranging from anger to disgust and joy to relief. The show was a mirror forcing us to stand transparent and speak the truth. Three days after the show, I am still reflective. The breast cancer connection is very close to me right now with three people I love dearly fighting that invisible disease.
I can't remember the name of the group who opened the show but I loved hearing them. Their mom was proud of her babies and I was proud of her for nurturing their gifts. Hopefully the Cleveland community will continue to nurture and support them.
_______
I went to the show to support my friend and fellow Wilberforce University big sister Theresa Burrage who played "Mary" in the play. I had to press my way to Cleveland from Pittsburgh, but I was not disappointed. First I got to hear Theresa sing again (she gave a dynamic performance in her song "I'm Sorry"). Second, she played a role that had me cracking up, and made me reflect deeply on my behavior as a mother. I never, ever want to leave my child unprotected like Mary did Angel. Even though I never got to understand why Mary left Angel, I know that something was broken in Mary too. Maybe in part two we will get the next installment of Mary's story?
Mary covered Angel by appointing her sister Marcia to step in during her absence. The person who played Marcia reminded me of my sister: feisty, protective, prayerful and took her role as auntie very seriously. I loved her. Kelly (Rorri Blackwell) and Denise (Tiffany Renee Allison) set the stage on fire. I loved the medley they sang, I wish I could get it on I-Tunes so I can go into worship when I need to hear from God. But more importantly, these two ladies were like Aaron and Hur were for Moses. Denise stood with Angel and loved her to life literally. I pray that my friendships with people are that strong. I pray I am a friend, an auntie and Godmother who stays with people through the darkness of their lives guiding them to the light.
Eileen Salters was fabulous in the role of Angel. All of the characters surrounding her had a chemistry that resonated with me. Adrian Coles was just the cutest boyfriend ever, he could give some of my single women friends hope that true love never dies. Everybody in the cast fit together like hand in glove.
James Vincent had to have been in the throne room before he went on stage. I do not know how he could have played a role so challenging other than by the power of God going before him. He and Eileen were good together. Eileen had a purity about her that made you want fight for her. She was genuine in her performance. You could hear people in the audience making comments about Angel being naive and brainwashed by her father. Great job Eileen and James. You set some people free through your fight to be excellent on stage.
One thing I loved about the show is that the characters engaged the audience. I never felt isolated as an audience member because when we needed a break from the heaviness of the content, the characters engaged us. In one instance we were able to hear from the father and the audience did not hide their disdain for what he was doing to Angel. I thought that was a great way to process the information we were trying to digest.
I want God to open my eyes wider so I can embrace more young girls who hide behind big clothes or skimpy clothes and bad attitudes. "When the Lights Go Out" gave me permission to keep sharing my testimony of being a survivor.
I work in child welfare so I know there are deep rooted things we never touch but "When the Lights Go Out" was one attempt at exposing the darkness surrounding many of our families. Males are also sexually violated and we need to talk about that too. As a writer myself, I imagine myself reading the dialogue when I watch theater and I saw the edification being written on the faces of the people in the audience. It was very relevant and very powerful.
PLJ
I have never done this before, but I wanted to offer some reflections on a play I saw in Cleveland this weekend "When the Lights Go Out" written by Ronnie Holman. He was also the director of the show. From what I understand Ronnie did his homework about all of the issues and he and his lady friend made sure the cast was supported every step of the way. The fact that he did these things shows he has the mind of a visionary.
Kudos to you Mr. Holman for having the courage to be obedient to the call of the Scribe on your life. Keep writing, keep producing and keep watching God move. This is just the beginning for all of you. My ticket stub is blurry but the vision of the show was made plain. This is what I want Scribes to know about writing.
Everything the team did was with the spirit of excellence so tweaks will only make a good show better. A couple minor tweaks I would suggest:
- The timing between scenes was a bit long but keep the band. They were good, we were grooving and dancing in our seats.
- I wish we could have had an open discussion at the end of the show. I wanted to hear from James, Eileen and Tiffany outside of their roles. Maybe as the cast tours with the show, a discussion can be incorporated into a special VIP showing.
- I wondered if Angel's house could change at all with a pillow or something. It was the same for 12 years.
- At first I was concerned to see young children in the audience. I knew the subject matter was a bit heavy but there was no mention of adult content. I do agree that as parents we need to be able to help our children process some of these difficult subjects. In the Black community hiding our children from pain is what is killing them in the dark.
The subject matter of the show was provocative and heart wrenching from curtain open to close. The writing style and flow was great; it was thoughtful, funny and Biblical. It taught us about love in different forms: skewed through manipulation and pure love from God. The importance of long suffering love of friends and love that covers a multitude of sins was highlighted also. In those two and a half hours I experienced emotions ranging from anger to disgust and joy to relief. The show was a mirror forcing us to stand transparent and speak the truth. Three days after the show, I am still reflective. The breast cancer connection is very close to me right now with three people I love dearly fighting that invisible disease.
I can't remember the name of the group who opened the show but I loved hearing them. Their mom was proud of her babies and I was proud of her for nurturing their gifts. Hopefully the Cleveland community will continue to nurture and support them.
_______
I went to the show to support my friend and fellow Wilberforce University big sister Theresa Burrage who played "Mary" in the play. I had to press my way to Cleveland from Pittsburgh, but I was not disappointed. First I got to hear Theresa sing again (she gave a dynamic performance in her song "I'm Sorry"). Second, she played a role that had me cracking up, and made me reflect deeply on my behavior as a mother. I never, ever want to leave my child unprotected like Mary did Angel. Even though I never got to understand why Mary left Angel, I know that something was broken in Mary too. Maybe in part two we will get the next installment of Mary's story?
Mary covered Angel by appointing her sister Marcia to step in during her absence. The person who played Marcia reminded me of my sister: feisty, protective, prayerful and took her role as auntie very seriously. I loved her. Kelly (Rorri Blackwell) and Denise (Tiffany Renee Allison) set the stage on fire. I loved the medley they sang, I wish I could get it on I-Tunes so I can go into worship when I need to hear from God. But more importantly, these two ladies were like Aaron and Hur were for Moses. Denise stood with Angel and loved her to life literally. I pray that my friendships with people are that strong. I pray I am a friend, an auntie and Godmother who stays with people through the darkness of their lives guiding them to the light.
Eileen Salters was fabulous in the role of Angel. All of the characters surrounding her had a chemistry that resonated with me. Adrian Coles was just the cutest boyfriend ever, he could give some of my single women friends hope that true love never dies. Everybody in the cast fit together like hand in glove.
James Vincent had to have been in the throne room before he went on stage. I do not know how he could have played a role so challenging other than by the power of God going before him. He and Eileen were good together. Eileen had a purity about her that made you want fight for her. She was genuine in her performance. You could hear people in the audience making comments about Angel being naive and brainwashed by her father. Great job Eileen and James. You set some people free through your fight to be excellent on stage.
One thing I loved about the show is that the characters engaged the audience. I never felt isolated as an audience member because when we needed a break from the heaviness of the content, the characters engaged us. In one instance we were able to hear from the father and the audience did not hide their disdain for what he was doing to Angel. I thought that was a great way to process the information we were trying to digest.
I want God to open my eyes wider so I can embrace more young girls who hide behind big clothes or skimpy clothes and bad attitudes. "When the Lights Go Out" gave me permission to keep sharing my testimony of being a survivor.
I work in child welfare so I know there are deep rooted things we never touch but "When the Lights Go Out" was one attempt at exposing the darkness surrounding many of our families. Males are also sexually violated and we need to talk about that too. As a writer myself, I imagine myself reading the dialogue when I watch theater and I saw the edification being written on the faces of the people in the audience. It was very relevant and very powerful.
PLJ
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