So You all know that Lynn Nottage scooped up the Pulitzer award for Drama, right? Well I have been long aware of Nottage's talent because a friend of mine is a big fan and has been following the talented playwright for a number of years. So why did it take me so long to see one of Lynn's plays? I can give you a bevy of reasons, but it's Friday and it's beautiful outside, so who has time for a list of excuses?
I finally went to see RUINED and i must tell you, it was a treat, I felt like a proud sister! And when it was over I leaped to my feet and applauded until my palms burned. If you do not go and see this play, you are doing yourself a grave disservice.
There was one monologue that not only left me speechless, but left me feeling so inadequate as a writer that it brought tears to my eyes. I know that when Lynn wrote those five or six paragraphs her spirit left her body and she became other-worldly. You know what I mean? It's that point when you hit your stride and explode.
Ruined is playing at the City Center in New York. Of course there is talk that it will move to one of the large Broadway theaters. As well it should. Lynn and her play deserves a larger audience.
Even though I fear that on a gargantuan stage, RUINED might lose the punch it packs. I am, however, eagerly awaiting the movie version. I don't know if there's been talk -- but c'mon, we know how these things go.
Lately, I've been pondering this whole Renaissance movement. A decade ago the claim was that we were immersed in the second renaissance. I say yes and no to that. The first Renaissance came about when White folk suddenly developed an interest in our artistic expressions. Black writers, musicians and painters were financially dependent upon the white folks interest and support.
Yeah, I know the stock market crash changed all of that, but prior to the crash, interest in the Negro had started to wane.
The second so-called Renaissance (at least where literature is concerned) has been almost totally financially dependent on Black folks. The publishing industry's marketing practices have a lot to do with that because less than 1% of Black writers are marketed across the color line.
Remember when i asked the question How will a Black President help me the Black Writer? Some of you thought he would and some thought he wouldn't. I was on the fence. I figured I would just wait and watch. But now my feeling is that yeah, he is going to help some of us.
Obama's election has in effect ushered in yet another Renaissance. People are curious about this Black man who made it into the highest office in the land. So naturally being curious about him, makes them curious about US.
And now you have this Black chick from Brooklyn with a Pulitzer..".Well maybe, just maybe these black people are about something other than gang-banging, baby mama drama and hot sex" - says the white woman or man.
The definition of Renaissance is this: A revival of intellectual or artistic achievement and vigor.
It may just be my wacky, way of thinking, but Obama's presidency and Nottage's Pulitzer (just six months later) seems to be pure personification of the definition of Renaissance.
2 comments:
I don't think you'er wacky at all. I'v seen signs that you are right.
I think you're right, and it's getting my fingers itching to write. Or, maybe more importantly, getting me interested in finally sharing some of that stuff that's been sitting under wraps as a result of my assumption that no one would want to hear a black woman write about her experiences.
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