By ANDY GILCHRIST
Arts Editor
Author Maya Angelou has lived her life “Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” In her 85 years, she has touched so many people through her work, most notably her poetry and autobiographies. To kick off black history month, the Ira Aldridge Theater Ensemble and SPECTRUM will present Mayarhythms, a performance piece celebrating her life and work, as well as revealing the unseen sides of her story that few people know.
Angelou rose to prominence in the late 1960s after the publication of her first autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Covering her childhood up through her teen years, the book explored topics such as race, identity, gender roles, and her rape by her mother’s boyfriend as a young girl. The book was instantly hailed as a masterpiece, not just because of the powerful events that Angelou recalled from her life, but because of how well she had written it—the heart and soul that had gone into the writing. She didn’t just report the events of her life. She told her story in full detail.
“I want to show people the Maya Angelou you don’t know,” said Donald Hyman, professor of American studies at Saint Rose, who is directing the show. By bringing together a group of past collaborators and new faces, coming from local high schools and performance groups, as well from Saint Rose and UAlbany, Hyman has created a show that covers a period in Angelou’s life that doesn’t receive much attention. While I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings covered her early years, and her years in the spotlight have been well documented, her time as a young woman making her way in the world—her formative period— hasn’t received nearly as much attention.
And it is this time that Hyman and his performers are exploring. Hyman described the show not just as a play or performance, but as a “living historical theatrical documentary.” There’s so much to Angelou’s life during this period that to narrow it down to just acting out scenes or singing and dancing wouldn’t do the story justice. It must incorporate all of them.
Mayarhythms is split into four parts, ranging from Angelou’s time as a singer and dancer in San Francisco in the early 50s to becoming an integral part of the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 60s. Key parts of her story are her interactions with other famous figures of that time, including Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as participating in the deadly Watts Riots in 1965. These parts of the show exemplify her importance not just as a writer, but as an important historical figure.
The show will also include some of Angelou’s most powerful writing, read out loud by actors on stage, setting up the scene to then be acted. Each actor has been inspired by her writing in their lives and the emotion and power in their readings will showcase this.
Some of actors will also be dancing in the show, specifically a style of dance known as liturgical dancing. Lucille Taylor, one of the actors and dancers, describes the style as “modern dance and movement set to gospel music.” She says that the dance is normally improvised, each dancer moving their hands and legs as gracefully as possible while letting the music guide them.
For this performance, however, the actors have choreographed the dance. They hope to achieve something similar to the dancing Angelou did to calypso music back in the 50s.
This is a show about one of the most influential and inspiring women of all time, incorporating not just stories from her life, but a true experience of who she is as a person. “Maya has always been willing to talk about her whole life,” said Hyman. She never holds back, describing her darkest and lowest moments right alongside her happiest. Mayarhythms is a show that is meant to educate people, to show them who the writer is behind the words. It is not about her as a writer or inspirational figure; it’s who she is as a person.
Mayarhythms will be performed on Sat., Feb 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Saint Joseph’s Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
