A Woman with Many Faces
Jessica Nelson
Issue date: 12/15/09 Section: Art
On Thursday, November 12, Maya Lilly's one-woman play, Mixed, was presented at the Margaret Williams Theatre. NJCU alumna, Christina Moses, was the star of the production, a collage of eight multi-racial characters that share their individual narratives.
The play's author and original star of Mixed, Maya Lilly, utilizes media and performance art as a platform for her social activism. She composed these narratives out of more than 200 interviews in which she posed the question, "What are you?"
We soon learn that this simple question has complicated answers.
Christina Moses proves to be a talented and versatile actress as she slipped off one character's skin and transitioned into another. Throughout her performance, Ms. Moses took on the persona of these diverse characters who varied in race, age, gender and sexuality.
Although there were minimal props, two chairs for the set, and costume changes limited to a bandana and a few hats, Moses crafted each story so vividly that you saw the character's world from their perspective.
The play depicts the adversity faced by its characters confined to a single body but inhabiting separate racial, cultural or sexual identities. Their encounters reflect the isolation and confusion experienced when their different identities pull them in opposite directions.
The narratives range from the difficulty of having to check the "Other" box on a government Census form to being estranged from their communities because of a character's biracial heritage. Other characters deal with the extra weight of being homosexual and biracial.
Other examples include an Arab-Black man's attempt to confront his racial identity in a post 9/11 world and the death of a parent, the victim of an anti-Arab hate crime.
These stories of struggle are balanced by the pride that resonates in these carefully constructed characters.
The significance of a single woman performing the narrative of several individuals gives way to the overarching message: Whatever your heritage is, under the skin you are a human being, just as unique and equal to any other. The only way to end racism is to eliminate race as a matter of importance and stop adding more boxes to the U.S. Census form. Quite simply, you can't fit a human being into one box.
The play's author and original star of Mixed, Maya Lilly, utilizes media and performance art as a platform for her social activism. She composed these narratives out of more than 200 interviews in which she posed the question, "What are you?"
We soon learn that this simple question has complicated answers.
Christina Moses proves to be a talented and versatile actress as she slipped off one character's skin and transitioned into another. Throughout her performance, Ms. Moses took on the persona of these diverse characters who varied in race, age, gender and sexuality.
Although there were minimal props, two chairs for the set, and costume changes limited to a bandana and a few hats, Moses crafted each story so vividly that you saw the character's world from their perspective.
The play depicts the adversity faced by its characters confined to a single body but inhabiting separate racial, cultural or sexual identities. Their encounters reflect the isolation and confusion experienced when their different identities pull them in opposite directions.
The narratives range from the difficulty of having to check the "Other" box on a government Census form to being estranged from their communities because of a character's biracial heritage. Other characters deal with the extra weight of being homosexual and biracial.
Other examples include an Arab-Black man's attempt to confront his racial identity in a post 9/11 world and the death of a parent, the victim of an anti-Arab hate crime.
These stories of struggle are balanced by the pride that resonates in these carefully constructed characters.
The significance of a single woman performing the narrative of several individuals gives way to the overarching message: Whatever your heritage is, under the skin you are a human being, just as unique and equal to any other. The only way to end racism is to eliminate race as a matter of importance and stop adding more boxes to the U.S. Census form. Quite simply, you can't fit a human being into one box.
Be the first to comment on this story