By Jay Lamar
Special to Texas Metro News
When THE BLACK ACADEMY OF ARTS AND LETTERS (TBAAL) opened its new play, “THE BITCHES,” last weekend to three packed houses in its Clarence Muse Cafe Theatre, the audiences departed the theatre, visibly excited about the newfound meaning of the word “Bitch.”
Written and performed by three of Dallas’ finest artists, the tightly-knit women’s ensemble, JADA ARNELL, K WOODS and LUCKI AZARIAH, proved that they understand the broad mastery and structure of language in a play that reminds one of Ntozake Shange’s 1976 critically acclaimed Broad-way hit play, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow Is Enuf.”
Consisting of a series of poetic monologues, accompanied by dance and music, Ms. Shange coined the word choreopoem to describe her work; which tells stories about seven women who suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society.
“The Bitches” has all the contemporary bells-and-whistles of a new “Colored Girls…”, but the difference is that these women have written their own poetic monologues to dramatize their enormously personal, raw, emotional, and universal, stories without pretense.
They each carefully and consciously selected three poems from familiar poets, in homage to their legacy and voice, to further describe their own journeys as Black women and artists who are constantly in search of their place in a world that’s not always too accepting or kind to artists and women or “Black Women“ as they touted throughout the show.
Their monologues are rich and powerful, and the song selection helps to undergird their stories.
Vocally, they are by far some of the best singers in Dallas and probably anywhere!
Their voices are distinctively different, but they know how to blend as an Ensemble, without musically clashing.
Arnell’s rendering of “Famous” would make one feel that she’s already at the top of her game as a singer. Her stunning delivery of the song was simply remarkable. She sang with such imbued passion and hunger that rivals any up-and-coming singers in the music stratosphere.
Woods took us from Gospel to Opera, with grit-and-growl; proving that she’s indisputably one of best budding singers with the kind of diverse vocal chops that’s reminiscent of Fantasia and the iconic Jennifer Holliday.
With no dry eye in the audience, Woods gave the spiritual “Motherless Child” a fresh and entirely new meaning even up to her singing the last note.
Azariah, the daughter of famed blues artist Lucky Peterson, is a masterfully great singer. The way she effortlessly sang “Fairy Tales” with the sliding and bending of her vocal music notes so smooth and majestically was ‘no fairy tale’.
Her mother, Tamara, is also a wonderful singer. So Azariah obviously has music in her DNA. She’s one to be seriously watched!
The show, directed by the Emmy Award winner Curtis King, demonstrates that King is a masterful and skilled director who knows how to create a refreshing artistic ensemble synergy between actors.
He obviously knew what to do with Arnell, Woods and Azariah because he trained them. He ‘knew them’ and they ‘knew him’ and they, collaboratively, created one of the best evenings, for me, in theatre that I’ve experienced in quite a while.
At one moment, I felt like I was in a Black Baptist church revival. Then the next moment, I felt like I was sitting in a New York theater on 42nd Street. Then I felt like I was watching three beautifully, well carved, and chiseled show-girls in Las Vegas.
If you’ve seen any of King‘s work over the years, then you’ll understand the kind of broad staging he creates, which is sometimes like watching an epic movie.
The artistic tapestry that he produces with actors is what makes his work memorable. He knows how to handle thematic subject matters and language in shows like “The Bitches” without pandering to stereotypes, pure vulgarity or apologies and shame.
The choreography by Denise Jones, lighting by Milton Tatum and costumes by Lindsay Humphries were all straightforward with pure geometric lines that didn’t get in the way of the show’s premise.
All contributed to the artistic accentuation of the work and the message. Cris Brenham, the capable Music Director, assembled a wonderful cadre of musicians to accompany the musical competence of the trio.
Don’t let the title of “The Bitches” deceive you because these ingenious actors put a positive and refreshing new spin on the word “bitch.”
In the Director’s Commentary, King said “it is a work in progress.”
With some script tweaks, this show has real potential to open a whole different perspective and conversation between an older and newer generation of women, “Black women.”
Supported in part by the BLACK SEED grant, be sure to catch this show if it ever comes to your city.
I’ve heard Curtis King say, “Erykah (Badu) always says that ‘Uncle Curtis doesn’t make stars, he makes artists and they become stars!’”
She should know because she’s one and so are these young women. This is a must experience show to see.
