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Combination Skin (1996) Photo/Foto: Jon Crispin
  • Title: Combination Skin
  • Holdings: photo gallery, video (HIDVL)
  • Language: English
  • Date: 15 Nov 1996
  • Location: Bowker Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Type-Format: play
  • Cast: Vendetta Goldwoman: Bonita Oliver, Voice of Bobbi: Ernessa T. Carter, Teen Bomb: Michael Proctor, Specimen #1: Angel Hardy, Guard: Michael Proctor, Queen Mama King: Ernessa T. Carter, Specimen #2: Rebecca Hershey, Specimen #3: Michelle Rousseau
  • Credits: Director: Roberta Uno, Set designer: Phillip Baldwin, Lighting designer: Justin Townsend, Costume design: Kiki Smith,

Combination Skin (1996)

‘Combination Skin,’ written by Lisa Jones and directed by Roberta Uno, explores the racial politics that has been imposed upon black individuals, questioning ‘Who says it's the black man’s burden to be black.’ Taking a look to historical figures and racial stereotypes, the conversations on stage go towards black skin tonality, discussing if ‘combination skin’ defines, or not, our own identities. Even more, whiteness as a counterpart of black identity is brought as a desired space for hiding the skin color that is related to negativity, and ‘dreaming of a white life.’ Playing with irony, and acknowledging that the fears embedded in centuries of a history of oppression are not easy to dissolve, the characters engage within a game show scenario that announces the winners of the whitest black person – a gesture that moves between sarcasm and despair.


Image Gallery

Video

Permanent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2333.1/wstqjrwf