Strong performance from cast including Lupita far right
Braced for Hope: Review of Eclipsed
Golden Theater
“To the people: Stand firm! Don’t give in! Our course is right and we will win.”–Message sent from Africa’s First Woman President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf when she was imprisoned.
“War is murder, force, anarchy, and debt. It’s end is evil, despite any incidental good.”– W.E. B. Dubois.
Sunrise, voice, African drums, and profound dark open the play Eclipsed, written by Danai Gurira, and currently at the Golden Theater. The March 19, 2016 matinee performance was superlatively superb.
The radiant talent came from many African countries including Kenya, Liberia, Ghana, and Nigeria. As ticket holders waited in a long line and chatted in the brisk March wind, we discovered that many of us had come “to support” Lupita Nyong’o, and others whom we had seen in different performances. We were not disappointed.
The vibrant and authentic dialogue delivers a radiance which counters the deadly weight of war atrocities, including rape. A refrain throughout the play is “What is your name?” War denatures. The playwright articulates the terrifying degree to which war can make us forget our humanity, forget who we are. As President Sirleaf says in her memoir, This Child Will Be Great, “violence is a vicious, contagious disease, easily spread.” But remembering who we are enables recovery.
The setting of Eclipsed authentically reproduces a small concrete garage-size dwelling complete with corrugated roof, Liberian flag high on one wall, kerosene lamp, small wash basin, and an inverted blue tub at the center. Even in this limited space and time, we see something of President Sirleaf’s “African tradition of community and collective good,” as the older women attempt to protect the virtue of the young girl. The book and the gun will become major symbols in this play, with the book providing a turning point.
African writers have an additional responsibility to inform an under-educated audience.
Consider carefully the effect of placing the full weight of war on one African man. How did all those weapons enter the country? We don’t want the history and culture to be eclipsed! Adding the wisdom included in President Sirleaf’s inaugural address, January 2006, providing these words in the playbill, placing them on a screen during intermission, or allowing us to actually hear her voice, would not diminish the power of the play which brings to consciousness destructive levels of stress so many women endured during Liberia’s civil war.
Liberia whose motto is “the Love of liberty brought us here” declared independence 26 July 1847, borrowing language from the US Declaration of Independence. In the Prologue of her memoir, President Sirleaf reminds us that there were people already living in this place so there was the potential for conflict when “settlers” arrived.
More than thirty years ago, a student whose last name is Tolbert, wrote his name in a book, which he gave to me. Liberian Writing. He had been called home to Liberia, possibly to be killed. His uncle and other relatives were killed. He was a witness, but his life was spared. We subsequently saw each other in Lower Manhattan, but neither of us spoke. He was physically the same, but his eyes were so empty. Anyone this close to the tragedy, could not see this play.
Eclipsed is powerful. While everyone will not “enjoy” this work in the same way, I highly recommend reading the Prologue and the Inaugural speech of Africa’s first woman president before viewing this insightful and disturbing play.
