A local theater company debuts a show this week at Florida Southwestern State College that is a first for Fort Myers. Theatre Conspiracy’s “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” by NtozakeShange features an all-black cast, director and stage manager. The company’s artistic director hopes this is the start of regular shows geared toward minority artists.
As soon as 42-year-old Fort Myers born, actress and married mother of three Sonya McCarter heard Theatre Conspiracy was staging “For Colored Girls” she was on board.
“I wasn’t so much focusing on who was doing it but the fact that it was something that was going to be done,” said McCarter “And I wanted to be a part of it. As soon as I heard I’m like, 'ok I’m going to go audition'!”
McCarter has performed with the Naples Players and Cape Coral’s Cultural Park Theater but she said there aren’t enough meaty roles for her here. In this acclaimed series of poetic monologues centered around women who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society she has found plenty.
“I have a piece that is a very challenging piece for me but one that is soul searching,” said McCarter. “It’s one of those poems where you look at it and you say what could have possibly have happened to this woman to this is where she ends up and this is how she relates to men in her life? What could have happened to her? And in that sense I believe that even though these poems are for colored girls any woman will find themselves in these poems,” she said.
Director Patricia Idlette said the show is personal to her. She saw it on Broadway years ago. She has performed in it. And when she was asked to direct it here she said, “Eureka!”.
Because after growing up here, directing theater in Canada, acting at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and in TV shows such as “Dead Like Me”, “Battlestar Galactica”, and “Psych” she was back home substitute teaching by day and waiting for the right opportunity.
“And I am always looking for a dark face, for a black girl,” said Idlette. “You want to see yourself. Not that other people are not that you don’t want them at the table but you want to see yourself. Everyone does. And certainly I would like to in my hometown? It would be really nice,” she said.
Theater Conspiracy artistic director Bill Taylor said he was pleasantly surprised 18 women of color turned out for the auditions. There was so much talent he chose 8 women for the 7 roles. Now he hopes he’s pleasantly surprised by audience turn out.
“I hope that the residents and visitors to southwest Florida will come out and support something like this,” said Taylor. “It’s new. I don’t know of a show that’s been produced locally with this big of a minority cast and a show like this. I just hope it gets the support,” he said.
Taylor credits stage manager Marcus Colon with the number of actresses who came out. The Florida Southwestern State college student has performed on stage and behind the scenes in local theater. He has his own theater company in the minority community that puts on plays with such themes as stopping violence. He says working on “For Colored Girls” is an honor. He’s working social media to fill seats. And he said he hopes to be a role model for the minority community.
“If they start seeing that there’s another way – that I don’t have to rap, that I don’t have to play basketball to make it out of the ghetto – I’ve always wanted to act,” said Colon. “I write stories. Well take those stories, put them into a play, come out to a real university or a real state college and learn something and learn how to actually write the play in the correct way. Learn the steps on doing the back story on your characters. Learn Shurtleff and Uta Hagen and all these different methods of acting,” he said.
Theater Conspiracy’s ultimate dream is to create a facility like the Alliance of the Arts, in Fort Myers’ predominantly black Dunbar Community. The gallery would exhibit work by minority artists, and the theater would have work geared toward minority actors, dancers and musicians.
Bill Taylor said his next season will consist of work by all female playwrights including one black British playwright and one Latina playwright. The plan is to cover the history of women in the theater working forward through time.
“For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” by Ntozake Shange runs January 29 through February 7 at Florida Southwestern State College. Information is at www.theatreconspiracy.org