African and African American Studies Partners with Drama for 'The Bluest Eye'

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Krys Garret and Julia Holliday (foreground), Britney Walker-Merritte (background)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The African and African American studies program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences will present its seventh annual spring play at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 13, and 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 14, in the Arkansas Union Theater. The event is co-sponsored by the department of drama.

Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye is about the tragic life of a young black girl in 1940's Ohio. Eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove wants nothing more than to be loved by her family and schoolmates. Instead, she faces constant ridicule and abuse. She blames her dark skin and prays for blue eyes, sure that love will follow. With rich language and bold vision, this powerful adaptation of an American classic explores the crippling toll that a legacy of racism has taken on a community, a family and an innocent girl.

“I’ve always wanted to play a role like this,” said Britney Walker-Merritte, a first year graduate student actor in the department of drama who plays Pecola. “It is a real story to me, I refuse to do anything fake on stage, especially a role like this.”

Brandon Sims and Kimberly Janssen, also graduate students, are two of the many students who have found that participating in the annual play encourages them to embrace academic and artistic challenges.

“Participating in this play is revelatory and presents me with the opportunity for my own case study,” Sims said. “I have a class, in which we explore adaptations of novels. So, in a sense, this is the extracurricular to my curricular activities.”

 “It has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone,” Janssen said. “When I signed up for it, I looked for a challenge so this definitely fulfilled that."

The annual spring play is a highlight for the African and African American studies program. Past performances have been delivered to packed houses consisting of both on-campus and off-campus patrons. Each play is carefully selected to compliment the program’s mission and the excitement and quality grow each year.

"My good friend was in last year's production, Waiting to Be Invited, she was the one that really motivated me to audition for this one," said Julia Holiday, a senior biology and philosophy major who plays Pecola’s mother, Pauline Breedlove.

In addition to Waiting to Be Invited, past productions include The Colored Museum, Twilight: Los Angeles 1922 and College Life: The Deciding Factor, an original play written by an African and African American studies student, and For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.

“Our annual plays educate and engage the audience, which include our students and members of both the university and the Northwest Arkansas community,” said Calvin White, Jr., associate professor of history and the program’s director. “All of our dramatic productions enhance the themes of African or African American history and culture discussed in the classroom and show the important role that African Americans and race played in the development of the United States.”

The African and African American studies program and the department of drama have collaborated to realize this production. Chandler Birmingham, a sophomore previously majoring in architecture, is the stage manager for The Bluest Eye. This is her first year in the drama program, and she’s happy with her decision to switch majors and pursue her passion. Her work in The Bluest Eye is practical application for a stage management class she is currently taking. When asked to describe what she felt when she first joined the production team, she said, “At first I was scared and now I am proud.”

The play is directed by Clinnesha D. Sibley, assistant professor of drama and an alumna of the George Washington Carver Research Program.  She holds a Master of Fine Arts in playwriting from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Arts from Tougaloo College.

Sibley recently received an Arkansas Individual Artist Fellowship through the Arkansas Arts Council. Her play Tell Martha Not to Moan received its world premiere in Denver, Colo., last year and her anthology, King Me: Three One-Act Plays Inspired by the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was released last spring by University of Arkansas Press. After The Bluest Eye, Sibley will be traveling to Kansas City, Mo., for a staged reading of her newest play The Experiment: A Tribute to Kenneth and Mamie Clark, at the American Jazz Museum’s Gem Theatre.

The cast and crew of The Bluest Eye includes: Betty Anderson as Mama, Chandler Birmingham as the Stage Manager/Properties Master, Aymbriana Campbell as the Assistant Director/Lighting Operator, Cassandra Corlett as Maureen Peal/Girl, Greg L. Crosby Jr. as Assistant Stage Manager/Properties Master, Dara Gaines as Woman 2, Krys Garrett  as Cholly Breedlove, Courtney D. Gipson as Costume Coordinator/Sound Operator, Julia Holliday as Mrs. Breedlove/Assistant Choreographer, Alexzandrea  Hollinshed as Darlene, Kimberly Janssen as Woman 1, Britney Walker-Merritte as Pecola Breedlove, Jade Novak as Frieda, Brandon Sims as Daddy, Brandyn Smith as Soaphead Church/Sound Designer/Choreographer and Rachel Washington as Claudia. 

A talkback will follow the Sunday performance, and a reception will follow the Monday performance. Both performances are free and open to the public.