In each issue of D&T, we bring you five suggested plays for studying and performing with your students. This time, Simi Belo takes us through her recommendations of plays that inspire, educate, and unite audiences through heartfelt exploration of the complex intersection of race and gender. Each of these form part of the short plays collection: Ain't I a Woman?
Cast: 2F
Synopsis: ‘Labelled the angry black woman whenever I challenge the status quo.’ Enter the world of Changing Rays where willing participants can undergo treatment to change their skin colour from black to white. Will Ngozi finally get the acceptance and recognition she craves by undergoing this treatment? A dystopian satire offering a strong social commentary on Western conventions of beauty standards and the pervasive impact on the black psyche.
Why it's great: It skilfully tackles the extent some black women would go to, or have been driven to, including resorting to self-inflected grievous bodily harm, to conform to the relentless overt and covert pressure of a narrow definition of beauty based on European features.
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