Friday and Saturday at 8pm
Sunday, special Industry price - all artists pay just $10!
Meet the playwright, Jerry Ayers after Sunday's performance.
Friday, March 13, 2009
South Florida Times Reviews Sisters!
PLAY REVIEW: Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit
BY KIMBERLY GRANT
My very first interaction with the cast and crew of Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit, was at one of their rehearsals. To get the creative vibe going, director Rachel Finley had the all-female cast and crew stand in a circle and do a type of throw and catch.
One woman said or did something creative to another. Then, that woman mimicked the action to the first woman, turned, and did her own action to the woman on the opposite side. Unfortunately, you readers who see the play Sisters! will not have the pleasure of seeing such backstage hijinks.
But, believe me when I tell you, it had me laughing a lot. I mentioned that scenario because this exercise not only loosens up and enlivens the group, it’s also a testimony to how much camaraderie these women have together. Even during a rehearsal break, I could feel the energy and the warmth shared by everyone in the cast and crew.
This backstage buzz of excitement permeates the performances to a quality level.
“[Sisters!] is the story of real women who lived real lives and lived with real pain,” said Finley, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Finley is quiet and shy, but always has a smile on her face.
Her direction, however, is so seamless that had I not been looking at her from time to time, I wouldn’t have even known she was directing. During the rehearsal, her intense gaze was on all the action, looking for perfection that is almost already there. For the most part, from what I have seen of their rehearsal, this cast has their performances down to second nature. I’m sure by curtain time, this performance will be perfect.
Sisters! is written by Jerry Ayers, based on a book titled, We Are Your Sisters by Jewish-American writer, journalist and historian Dorothy Sterling.Sterling, who died Dec. 1, 2008, attended Wellesley College and graduated from Barnard College. She worked for many years as a journalist for Life magazine, and was one of more than 400 writers who protested the Vietnam War by not paying payroll taxes.
Sterling, who is also the author of more than 30 non-fiction historical books geared toward children, wrote We Are Your Sisters in 1984. Ayers had the hard task of weaving together the many stories and situations of African-American women in the 1800s. Sisters is a little hard to follow, but it is very hard to fathom how long it took Ayers to create something with so many characters and still spark an interest; which she did.
The major actresses are Crystal Renae (great baritone and a fine actress), Kenyatta Browne (her mega-watt smile makes her characters seem to shine through their pain), Gidget Friday (she may not look it, but she sounds like the women of the era she is portraying; an old soul), and Ebony Morrison (she’s one of the youngest in the play and performs as if she’s been acting since birth). The other actresses, whom I wouldn’t dare call minor, are Talia Cebba, Nerlynn Etienne, Dian Harris, Jodi Johnson, Shela Marie, Ajahnae Mason, Jovanka Ravis and Stephanie Wong. These women comprise the backbone of the entire performance. Other actors of note are Joshua Robinson and Gail Willingham, who serves as narrator and executive producer of the show.
The show is both entertaining and gripping. I found myself trying very hard not to shed a tear during such scenes as the one where a woman has to watch her son being killed, and when the women tell their stories of being beaten just because they were black.
Slavery may be a thing of the past, but it is still our history. I’m glad there’s a play (and a book) that shows that slavery was just as hard for women, if not harder. Sisters! is a play that everyone, especially young women, owes it to themselves to see. It’s a proud and bittersweet part of our tradition as women of color.
When you leave Sisters!, because I know you’re going to see it, make sure to have a long talk with your daughter, sister, niece or granddaughter about the importance of the play and how these women went through so much so that we could have the great lives we lead today.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit.
WHEN: Feb. 28 to March 22. Fridays and Saturdays 8 p.m., Sundays 3 p.m. Florida Humanities Council Talk-Back Session Feb. 27. Black Carpet Official Opening Night Feb. 28.
WHERE: African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 N.W. 22 Ave., Miami.COST: $20 per person. Field trips are $5 per student. Groups of 10 or more get discounted ticket price of $10 per person.
CONTACT: 305-638-6771 or 305-637-1895 www.aapact.com or www.sistersproduction.blogspot.com
Last Updated ( Friday, 27 February 2009 )
BY KIMBERLY GRANT
My very first interaction with the cast and crew of Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit, was at one of their rehearsals. To get the creative vibe going, director Rachel Finley had the all-female cast and crew stand in a circle and do a type of throw and catch.
One woman said or did something creative to another. Then, that woman mimicked the action to the first woman, turned, and did her own action to the woman on the opposite side. Unfortunately, you readers who see the play Sisters! will not have the pleasure of seeing such backstage hijinks.
But, believe me when I tell you, it had me laughing a lot. I mentioned that scenario because this exercise not only loosens up and enlivens the group, it’s also a testimony to how much camaraderie these women have together. Even during a rehearsal break, I could feel the energy and the warmth shared by everyone in the cast and crew.
This backstage buzz of excitement permeates the performances to a quality level.
“[Sisters!] is the story of real women who lived real lives and lived with real pain,” said Finley, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Finley is quiet and shy, but always has a smile on her face.
Her direction, however, is so seamless that had I not been looking at her from time to time, I wouldn’t have even known she was directing. During the rehearsal, her intense gaze was on all the action, looking for perfection that is almost already there. For the most part, from what I have seen of their rehearsal, this cast has their performances down to second nature. I’m sure by curtain time, this performance will be perfect.
Sisters! is written by Jerry Ayers, based on a book titled, We Are Your Sisters by Jewish-American writer, journalist and historian Dorothy Sterling.Sterling, who died Dec. 1, 2008, attended Wellesley College and graduated from Barnard College. She worked for many years as a journalist for Life magazine, and was one of more than 400 writers who protested the Vietnam War by not paying payroll taxes.
Sterling, who is also the author of more than 30 non-fiction historical books geared toward children, wrote We Are Your Sisters in 1984. Ayers had the hard task of weaving together the many stories and situations of African-American women in the 1800s. Sisters is a little hard to follow, but it is very hard to fathom how long it took Ayers to create something with so many characters and still spark an interest; which she did.
The major actresses are Crystal Renae (great baritone and a fine actress), Kenyatta Browne (her mega-watt smile makes her characters seem to shine through their pain), Gidget Friday (she may not look it, but she sounds like the women of the era she is portraying; an old soul), and Ebony Morrison (she’s one of the youngest in the play and performs as if she’s been acting since birth). The other actresses, whom I wouldn’t dare call minor, are Talia Cebba, Nerlynn Etienne, Dian Harris, Jodi Johnson, Shela Marie, Ajahnae Mason, Jovanka Ravis and Stephanie Wong. These women comprise the backbone of the entire performance. Other actors of note are Joshua Robinson and Gail Willingham, who serves as narrator and executive producer of the show.
The show is both entertaining and gripping. I found myself trying very hard not to shed a tear during such scenes as the one where a woman has to watch her son being killed, and when the women tell their stories of being beaten just because they were black.
Slavery may be a thing of the past, but it is still our history. I’m glad there’s a play (and a book) that shows that slavery was just as hard for women, if not harder. Sisters! is a play that everyone, especially young women, owes it to themselves to see. It’s a proud and bittersweet part of our tradition as women of color.
When you leave Sisters!, because I know you’re going to see it, make sure to have a long talk with your daughter, sister, niece or granddaughter about the importance of the play and how these women went through so much so that we could have the great lives we lead today.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit.
WHEN: Feb. 28 to March 22. Fridays and Saturdays 8 p.m., Sundays 3 p.m. Florida Humanities Council Talk-Back Session Feb. 27. Black Carpet Official Opening Night Feb. 28.
WHERE: African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, 6161 N.W. 22 Ave., Miami.COST: $20 per person. Field trips are $5 per student. Groups of 10 or more get discounted ticket price of $10 per person.
CONTACT: 305-638-6771 or 305-637-1895 www.aapact.com or www.sistersproduction.blogspot.com
Last Updated ( Friday, 27 February 2009 )
Miami Herald's Christine Dolen Reviews "Sisters!"
Miami Herald
Posted on Fri, Mar. 13, 2009
Review Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit
BY CHRISTINE DOLEN
For the African American Performing Arts Community Theatre (AAPACT), every month is Black History Month. Thus Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit began its run at the end of that specially designated month and is running until March 22 at Liberty City's African Heritage Cultural Arts Center.
Jerry Ayers' script, drawn from Dorothy Sterling's book We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century, is a kind of dramatic collage. It begins in the 1830s with the stories of enslaved women, and ends in the 1890s as free black women are becoming teachers, doctors, businesswomen, nurses and more. The women in its large cast play 68 roles, bringing to life both famous figures (Sojourner Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman) as well as slaves, students, preachers, singers and even members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The sheer size and scope of Sisters! make it a challenging undertaking for any company. AAPACT casts by the show, mixing professionals and students, and director Rachel Finley (who also appears in Sisters!) does a decent job of blending performers of varying abilities.
Both because of the sweep of its content and the simplicity of APPACT's production, the play doesn't make as strong an impression as a more focused, more fully realized work. But it does remind us of the sorrows, sacrifices and heroism of several generations of black women.
An elegantly dressed Gail Willingham anchors the play as Sarah Louise Forten, the narrator who does verbal scene-setting and offers running commentary. The other performers -- Ya-Ya Browne, Nerlynn Etienne, Gidget Friday, Dian Harris, Jodi Johnson, Shelah Marie, Ajahnae Mason, Janet ''Toni'' Mason, Ebony Morrison, Talia Pasqualotto, Crystal Renae and Stephanie Wong -- conjure scenes of tragedy and joy.
Morrison, for example, is a young slave named Mary who comes to her mother with the news she's about to be sold. Her mother (Renae) is both comforting and stoic: There is, she knows, nothing to be done. We learn that the women pick 150 pounds of cotton a day. That an infant can be bought for $100, a 5-year-old for $500. That slave women were considered the nucleus of the labor force and the producers of wealth: children born into slavery. It is all horrible, unfathomable. And it happened.
Johnson and the versatile Etienne play an amusing bride and groom. Playing a house slave named Alcey, Renae tells a funny story of vengeance, explaining how it took serving a long-dead chicken to convince her mistress to let her work in the fields. As Susan, Browne forthrightly rebukes a pair of women gossiping about her unwed motherhood.
The production also blends movement and music -- a capella renditions of such songs as Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Balm in Gilead, Let My People Go, Down by the Riverside, Steal Away -- to underscore the meaning and mood of the women's stories.
The diffuse Sisters! frequently reveals its roots as a history lesson designed to remind or educate those watching. But the piece undeniably moves and connects with AAPACT's audience.
© 2009 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.http://www.miamiherald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/arts/story/945340.html
Posted on Fri, Mar. 13, 2009
Review Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit
BY CHRISTINE DOLEN
For the African American Performing Arts Community Theatre (AAPACT), every month is Black History Month. Thus Sisters! A Celebration of the Human Spirit began its run at the end of that specially designated month and is running until March 22 at Liberty City's African Heritage Cultural Arts Center.
Jerry Ayers' script, drawn from Dorothy Sterling's book We Are Your Sisters: Black Women in the Nineteenth Century, is a kind of dramatic collage. It begins in the 1830s with the stories of enslaved women, and ends in the 1890s as free black women are becoming teachers, doctors, businesswomen, nurses and more. The women in its large cast play 68 roles, bringing to life both famous figures (Sojourner Truth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Harriet Tubman) as well as slaves, students, preachers, singers and even members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The sheer size and scope of Sisters! make it a challenging undertaking for any company. AAPACT casts by the show, mixing professionals and students, and director Rachel Finley (who also appears in Sisters!) does a decent job of blending performers of varying abilities.
Both because of the sweep of its content and the simplicity of APPACT's production, the play doesn't make as strong an impression as a more focused, more fully realized work. But it does remind us of the sorrows, sacrifices and heroism of several generations of black women.
An elegantly dressed Gail Willingham anchors the play as Sarah Louise Forten, the narrator who does verbal scene-setting and offers running commentary. The other performers -- Ya-Ya Browne, Nerlynn Etienne, Gidget Friday, Dian Harris, Jodi Johnson, Shelah Marie, Ajahnae Mason, Janet ''Toni'' Mason, Ebony Morrison, Talia Pasqualotto, Crystal Renae and Stephanie Wong -- conjure scenes of tragedy and joy.
Morrison, for example, is a young slave named Mary who comes to her mother with the news she's about to be sold. Her mother (Renae) is both comforting and stoic: There is, she knows, nothing to be done. We learn that the women pick 150 pounds of cotton a day. That an infant can be bought for $100, a 5-year-old for $500. That slave women were considered the nucleus of the labor force and the producers of wealth: children born into slavery. It is all horrible, unfathomable. And it happened.
Johnson and the versatile Etienne play an amusing bride and groom. Playing a house slave named Alcey, Renae tells a funny story of vengeance, explaining how it took serving a long-dead chicken to convince her mistress to let her work in the fields. As Susan, Browne forthrightly rebukes a pair of women gossiping about her unwed motherhood.
The production also blends movement and music -- a capella renditions of such songs as Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Balm in Gilead, Let My People Go, Down by the Riverside, Steal Away -- to underscore the meaning and mood of the women's stories.
The diffuse Sisters! frequently reveals its roots as a history lesson designed to remind or educate those watching. But the piece undeniably moves and connects with AAPACT's audience.
© 2009 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.http://www.miamiherald.com
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/arts/story/945340.html
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The excitement is mounting!
I am elated to be working with such a dedicated and talented group of individuals. As opening day approaches everyone can feel the pressure, and is rising to the occasion. The designers, cast and crew are all putting their hearts and souls into this production. I think the fact that the play is about real women who lived real lives full of real pain and real joy has a major impact on the responsibility we feel. We want to honor their legacy with this production. These women, some of whom were famous, but most of whom were not, paved the road for the generations that followed them, including our generation. It is only because of their ability to endure, strive and thrive that modern American women such as myself even exist. I am grateful for these ancestors and the fact that they survived long enough to sew the seeds of their strength that have grown into the great oak trees of opportunity that shade me and my generation today. I feel privileged to have this opportunity to share their struggles, joys, strength and humor with a modern audience. This production makes use of mixed media, live music and raw human talent to create an experience that is relevant and enjoyable for everyone from the Disney channel audience to the MTV generation, to baby boomers and beyond. I am confident that when it opens, our blood, sweat and tears will breath new life into these stories.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Every round goes higher and higher! I finally got to know how to post a comment on the blog site for SISTERS! Most importantly, the dreams and visions of people working are forming the most fantastic group I've worked with since moving back to Miami. Oh yes, with the production in full swing, we still have a need for more people; so, get on board, there's room for many-a more!
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