2008 Woodie Awards
New play highlights struggle between gain and passion
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Life & Style
Life can be sweet. Plights and adversity aside, it takes passion to bear fruit.
"How to Get the Mango (When the lizard's in the way)" is a new play written by UA master of fine art student Clinnesha Dillon and directed by playwright professor Roger Gross. The play will debut 7 p.m. tomorrow and Wednesday in the studio theatre of Kimpel Hall Room 404.
"Mango" revolves around the life of a black woman caught between a cookie-cutter lifestyle and the whims of intuition.
"The play was inspired by a book that I've always found to be interesting and it's called 'Shifting,'" said Dillon in the compact studio theatre before play rehearsal. "I feel like this play epitomizes what that book is saying, where we have a black woman who is the leading character, who is pursuing a Ph.D., is in an interracial marriage, has been told her entire life what it means to be successful, what you have to have to be successful. And all of her life she's questioned it, but she's never let that question 'am I really happy?' seep out.
"She's at the point of her life where she's wanting to pursue something meaningful and not just because it just seems like the automatic next step. It's about her journey to something that ultimately makes her happy, " she said.
The main character must deal with the "superwoman" syndrome, in which she has to be everything to everybody. She ultimately finds herself wearing a mask, as is exemplified in "Shifting," which is about how black women have to shift in their professional careers and then in their personal lives, Dillon said.
"This play deals with pursuing gain over passion," she said. "Many times we're taught that we have to do that. Where did that start? How different would things be if everybody just pursued their passion as opposed to gain. And that is actually how the title fits in, where the mango is the product of passion, pursing passion - the sweet life. And the lizard is gain - it's everything that gets in the way of your ultimate happiness."
"How to Get the Mango (When the lizard's in the way)" is a new play written by UA master of fine art student Clinnesha Dillon and directed by playwright professor Roger Gross. The play will debut 7 p.m. tomorrow and Wednesday in the studio theatre of Kimpel Hall Room 404.
"Mango" revolves around the life of a black woman caught between a cookie-cutter lifestyle and the whims of intuition.
"The play was inspired by a book that I've always found to be interesting and it's called 'Shifting,'" said Dillon in the compact studio theatre before play rehearsal. "I feel like this play epitomizes what that book is saying, where we have a black woman who is the leading character, who is pursuing a Ph.D., is in an interracial marriage, has been told her entire life what it means to be successful, what you have to have to be successful. And all of her life she's questioned it, but she's never let that question 'am I really happy?' seep out.
"She's at the point of her life where she's wanting to pursue something meaningful and not just because it just seems like the automatic next step. It's about her journey to something that ultimately makes her happy, " she said.
The main character must deal with the "superwoman" syndrome, in which she has to be everything to everybody. She ultimately finds herself wearing a mask, as is exemplified in "Shifting," which is about how black women have to shift in their professional careers and then in their personal lives, Dillon said.
"This play deals with pursuing gain over passion," she said. "Many times we're taught that we have to do that. Where did that start? How different would things be if everybody just pursued their passion as opposed to gain. And that is actually how the title fits in, where the mango is the product of passion, pursing passion - the sweet life. And the lizard is gain - it's everything that gets in the way of your ultimate happiness."
Be the first to comment on this story