This weekend, the Dunbar Baldwin Hughes Theater Company, an on-campus theater group dedicated to portraying African American Culture through drama, will present the show We're Going to Have a Good Time IX: The Rosalee Pritchett Story.
With this show, the annual production of We're Going to Have a Good Time will enter its ninth season. While it is typically a show of feel-good song and dance, this year's show takes a more serious approach. Written by Carlton and Barbara Molette, The Rosalee Pritchett Story is a thought-provoking drama that causes audience members to stop to consider their relationships with others.
The Rosalee Pritchett Story is the story of an upper-class African American woman living in the late 1960s who is raped by four white men from the National Guard. When no one believes her story of the violent crime, she is sent to an asylum, where she reminisces about her former life. She recalls the discussions she and her upper-class African American friends had bout their successful lives in white society and their scorn for life in the ghetto.
Benedict A. Dorsey, Assistant Director of Student Financial Services, directs the show. "The play forces you to walk away and think about the hatred and injustice of racism, and what part you are playing in the game. Are you trying to destroy it in every measure, or are you advancing it with your fears?" said Dorsey.
During the rehearsal time prior to the show, Dorsey requested that cast members ask their parents about their personal encounters with racism while growing up in America. He explains that, while the racial upheaval accompanying the Civil Rights Movement occurred less than fifty years ago, many young adults today are out of touch with these times.
One of the controversial points of the show is the author's requirement that the white men who rape Pritchett be portrayed by African American men in white face paint. Dorsey explains that this portrayal is not intended to mock another race, but to give an accurate depiction of bigotry and to show that "racism has many faces."
"All students should attend this performance to revisit a part of the past and to ensure that we do not repeat it in any form, shape, or fashion," said Dorsey. "I hope and pray they will take back from it the one thing I preach all the time -- "Make sure your diversity is equality, also!'"
The play will begin at 8 p.m. on the evenings of Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. All shows will be in the Swirnow Theater of the Mattin Center. Tickets are $3 with a student ID or $5 for the general public, and may be purchased at the door or reserved by calling (410) 516-4695.
