The limited engagement of ECLIPSED—award-winning play by Danai Gurira (Black Panther)—continues its run at Loyola University through Sunday, May 6. The black female-led production about five women during the Second Liberian Civil War is part of Southern Rep Theatre’s 2017-18 season in residence at Loyola’s Department of Theatre Arts and Dance.
Idella Johnson (L) & LaSharron Purvis performing ECLIPSE. (photo by John B. Barrios)
ECLIPSED is described as “a delicately drawn portrait of the captive wives of a rebel officer in Liberia in 2003. Each one works to find her own way to survive and her place within their tenuous community as the war draws to a close and an uncertain future awaits them. Gurira’s play celebrates their strength, resourcefulness, and humor within an unflinching examination of the human toll of the conflict.”
Danai Gurira, best known for her high-profile roles as an actor (Okoye in Black Panther, Michonne in “The Walking Dead”), is also an established writer, whose plays include FAMILIAR (Yale Rep, Playwrights Horizons) and THE CONVERT (Goodman Theatre). Born in America and raised in Zimbabwe, the self-proclaimed “Zimerican” artist said in a 2016 interview with PBS:
“Moving here really did strike in me the desire to tell the African story on American soil. The stories about Africans always somehow miraculously had a Western protagonist. And I was, like, wow, do we not merit our own ability to tell our own stories? So, I started to write plays that literally was like, if you come into this theater, you are going to sit down and you’re going to spend two hours or so with an African woman and you’re going to get to know her. You are going to see a full person.”
The production takes place in Marquette Theatre at Loyola, 6363 St. Charles Ave. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. (or 3 p.m. on Sundays). Read more about the production via Southern Rep Theatre:
Originally written in 2009, ECLIPSED was produced off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2013 and transferred to a successful Broadway run, where it was the first Broadway production with an all-black and female cast, playwright, and director. It received critical acclaim and was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Play. Lupita Nyong’o played the central role of The Girl.
In Southern Rep’s production, the cast both includes American-born and African-born women. Valentina Imokhai, Idella Johnson, Sarah Nansubuga, LaSharron Purvis, and Lauren E. Turner make up the ensemble. The director is Malika Oyetimein, a graduate of the renowned MFA program at University of Washington School of Drama.
ECLIPSED – Valentina Imokhai (photo by John B. Barrios)
All of this weekend’s performances will be paired with a special event. Tonight (Apr. 26) is Name Your Price, and all tickets sold at the door are on a name-your-price basis.
Friday will feature the young spoken word artists of New Orleans Youth on Mic (NOYOM) as pre-show entertainment starting at 6:45 p.m. Also on Friday, a Best Dressed award will be given for best Wakanda attire. (Winners get Avengers: Infinity War tickets.)
Saturday will feature a Table Talk Pre-Show Panel Discussion about Women as Peace + Policy Makers. The panel will feature Dr. Kara T. Olidge (Amistad Research Center), Dr. Nikki Brown (University of New Orleans), and Dr. Denise Frazier (New Orleans Center for the Gulf South), moderated by Nia Weeks (Citizen SHE).
Sunday‘s post-show will offer a Q&A session with the cast.
For more about ECLIPSED, visit Southern Rep website here.
