Bronze Productions, at TurnAround Theatre.
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The six African American women in Cheryl Katherine-Wash’s play begin as easily recognizable types, but then the playwright supposedly strips away the layers of artifice. The first act is light comedy, taking us to a dinner party being given by fast-track lawyer Tomika. Here we meet Tomika’s sassy sitcom maid and her old friends from the ‘hood: a leather-jacketed, foulmouthed tough; a gospel-preaching community activist; a back-to-the-roots Afrocentrist; and a flaky artiste. The second act is spent deconstructing the stereotypes. The lawyer is a wannabe desperately striving to fit into the white corporate world. The snide maid is a self-loathing drug addict. The tough woman is married to a drug dealer who beats her, the churchgoing woman is living in sin, the Afrocentrist is ashamed of her African heritage, and the artiste is a lesbian.
