I want to believe that shows like UnTamed have been running on tiny, little stages in various places all over the country for decades. The show in question feels like it might only be a few seconds old and it’s long overdue. It’s a program of five shorts by black female playwrights covering a range of issues. Cori Thomas’ The Hair Play concerns itself with the politics of hair straightening. Jocelyn Bioh’s White-N-Lucious casts a glance at beauty and skin lightening. Chisa Hutchinson’s cleverly-titled Melanintervention focusses on black femininity . . . it’s a menu of topics not often brought to the forefront of mainstream theatre.
Late next month, Milwaukee-based MPower theater company will be presenting a staging of Untamed: Hair Body and Attitude. Short Plays by Black Women. They’re looking to cast the show this week in auditions being held Sep. 8 from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. and Sep. 10 from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. The show itself will be performed once at UW-Milwaukee on the evening of Oct. 21.
Here's who they're looking for:
9 Black Females
1 Black Male
1 Biracial Female
1 White Female
2 White Males
1 Indian/Mid-Eastern Male
1 Asian Female
To sign-up for an audition slot, visit Sign Up Genius. For further questions, write Eva J at emjuniel@uwm.edu
