Play explores conflict of skin color

Tag : children's stockings



Like turning the pages of a diary kept hidden under a lock and keyof secrecy for decades, Eleanor Kinlaw-Ross ' new play, "Cross the Color Line," explores the complexities,truths, myths and pain of an African-American family separated byvariations in skin color.
For Kinlaw-Ross, a Charleston native who divides her time betweenAtlanta and James Island, the seed for writing "Cross the ColorLine" was planted long before our nation became focused onpresidential candidate Barack Obama, reported in the news to beviewed by some as not being "black enough."
"It's really a coincidence about Obama, but it is certainlyappropriate," says Kinlaw-Ross, whose play, "Hush Dat Gullah," wasperformed by Art Forms and Theatre Concepts at the 1996 MOJAFestival.
Since that time, the playwright has retired from her position inadvertising at CNN and now writes, produces and lectures about theGullah culture.
"When I was writing 'Cross the Color Line,' I was actually thinkingof an incident that astonished me," says Kinlaw-Ross. "About 10years ago, I witnessed an exchange between two senior citizens whowere having a heated argument about how the color line hadseparated their worlds as children. I was amazed that the pain wasstill so fresh and divisive after all the years that had passedbetween the two men."
This was when Kinlaw-Ross felt the issue should be explored anddramatized.
"Cross the Color Line," set in the 1970s in Charleston and Boston,will be directed by Charleston native Henry Clay Middleton, a critically praised Lowcountry actor.
"This explosive play speaks to the heart and soul of a matter thatis still very much alive today," says Middleton. "Even as we haveentered a new millennium, the issues of the differences inlight-skin and dark-skin African-Americans are still a major causefor debate and discussion."
While the color line is at the heart of this play, other burningissues also are explored, such as the booming development of JamesIsland, and higher taxes resulting in the loss of land that hasanchored generations keeping Gullah legacies alive, Kinlaw-Rosspoints out.
She also emphasizes, "Certainly, this play is grounded in seriousissues, it is also laced with many lighthearted moments andside-splitting humor."
"Cross the Color Line" is part of the third annual Island HeritageFestival, celebrating and commemorating the historic treasures ofSea Island culture and history.
Director Middleton also will portray William, one of two brothers.The other brother, Booker T., is played by Herbert A. Johnson Jr. Others in the cast are Denise Jones, Michele Powe, Lorraine Frasier and Patricia Jones.
The play will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday with a 3p.m. matinee June 29 at the Footlight Players Theater, 20 Queen St.An opening reception will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Tickets are $25 and may be purchased at the box office up to twohours before the performance, by calling 800-595-4849, or visit www.islandheritagefestival.com for information.
Piccolo awards
At the 2008 Piccolo Spoleto Festival Finale on June 7, threeCharlestonians received Piccolo Spoleto Lifetime Achievement Awardsfrom the Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs. The awardrecognizes their tremendous contributions over the past 30 yearstoward staging Piccolo, which is the official outreach program ofSpoleto Festival USA.
Recipients of the award were Robert Ivey , founder of the Robert Ivey Ballet and professor emeritus of danceat the College of Charleston; Steve Livingston, director of the Charleston Parks Department; and Dr. William Gudger, professor of organ at the College of Charleston.
Ellen Dressler Moryl, director of the Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, said, "Manylocal arts professionals have worked tirelessly to plan and producePiccolo Spoleto, but only a few have been involved with Piccoloevery year since its founding. Therefore, we wanted to give themspecial recognition."
Moryl added that only Ivey, who has coordinated the Dance at NoonSeries and the Dance Festival, has produced a series at eachfestival.
Gudger is a founding member of Piccolo's L'Organo Series, whichbrings some of the nation's finest organists to the festival.
Livingston has provided labor and resources from the city parksdepartment to ensure that Piccolo's large outdoor events runsmoothly.
Charisse memories
I grew up wanting to be Cyd Charisse , after watching her in "Broadway Melody Ballet," her one number in"Singin' in the Rain" danced with Gene Kelly .
Although only in the first grade, I identified with her. She wasnot the short, blond Debbie Reynolds -type considered all the rage then. Rather, she was tall and exudeda dark glamour, but mostly it was the way she moved that fascinatedmy young mind.
I also was mesmerized by her in "The Band Wagon," elegantlypartnered with Fred Astaire in "Dancing in the Dark." But the image that sticks in my head,through the decades, is of her in "Silk Stockings" (1957), in whichshe played an icy Soviet official who is sent undercover to Paris,where she meets and falls for a Hollywood producer, Astaire.
Her long legs and early ballet training at 14 with the Ballet Russemingled with show-dance moves in Cole Porter's "All of You."Famously, Astaire once said, "When you've danced with Cyd Charisse,you know you've been danced with."
When Charisse died Tuesday at 86 in Los Angeles, I thought not onlyof a great dancer who gave a new definition to the term "grace,"but also of someone who was living proof that a girl didn't have tobe "5-feet-2, eyes of blue" to get a dance partner.
Reach Dottie Ashley at dashley@postandcourier.com .