"The Colored Museum" Hits the Stage This Evening and Tomorrow!

"The Last-Mama-on-the-Couch Play" from The Colored Museum. Photo by Danielle Tucker Productions and M.Power Arts.

A fantastic ensemble performance of the classic stage play The Colored Museum continues with performances this evening (Saturday, September 22 at 8:00 PM) and tomorrow (Sunday, September 23 at 5:00 PM). A great evening awaits theatergoers at the Parish Hall Theater of the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield (located at 724 Park Avenue in Plainfield). 

The Colored Museum, George C. Wolfe's amazing and painfully funny comedy, originally premiered back in 1986 at the Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick before moving to Joseph Papp's legendary Public Theater in New York City. Wolfe's play takes no prisoners as it gleefully wounds the sacred cows of African American theater history. The skits, referred to as "Museum Exhibits," hilariously satirize pretentious aspects of African American theatrical culture, at the same time skewering racist assumptions about black life. Lorraine Hansberry's pioneering A Raisin in the Sun is re-imagined as "The-Last-Mama-on-the-Couch Play," which had the audience practically rolling on the floor with laughter. 

Grabbing a selfie as the theater fills up!

The other exhibits include "The Gospel According to Miss Roj," in which a transgender snap queen recounts her life as an "extra-terrestrial" as she "snaps" her way through life, "Git on Board," where the tightly-wound yet disturbingly obsequious flight attendant of "Celebrity Slave Ship" urges passengers to "Fasten Your Shackles," and "Cookin' With Aunt Ethel," portraying a sort of neo-Aunt Jemima television chef who stirs ingredients into a pot to create a "batch of Negroes."

I was bowled over by the incredible performances by this talented and professional ensemble cast, deftly directed by Danielle Tucker,* whose fine-tuned directorial skills were also on display in the recent sold-out performances of August Wilson's Fences, Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues, and Annie, Jr. Danielle Tucker is part of a re-energized performing arts wave that is hitting Plainfield, and she is joined in this production by her frequent collaborator Onyx Keesha of M.Power Arts.

At last night's premiere, which was packed, the audience (including me!) responded with gales of laughter throughout the show. You really shouldn't miss this theatrical treat. The final performances will presented today, Saturday, September 22 at 8:00 pm, and tomorrow, Sunday, September 23 at 5:00 pm. The arts are truly alive--don't miss it!

Tickets for the performance are only $18. To order, call (908) 912-4396 or click on the link: The Colored Museum - Tickets

*Danielle will be staging Langston Hughes's Black Nativity in December. More on that in a future post!