All the Way West Productions Presents THE BLUEST EYE

All the Way West Productions, Inc. is thrilled to bring its Black History Month Production of The Bluest Eye, an adapted play by Lydia Diamond and the Los Angeles tribute and 50th Anniversary celebration of the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.

A haunting and tragic portrait of a black girl's coming of age in the racially turbulent 1940s. With rich language and bold vision, this powerful adaptation of an American classic explores the crippling toll that a legacy of racism has taken on a community, a family, and an innocent girl. The Bluest Eye production is also a tribute and 50th anniversary celebration to the African-American Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison's acclaimed debut novel. Lydia Diamond's dramatization of the novel has appeared at distinguished regional theatres around the country and won the AATE Distinguished award.

"I want to make a statement about the damage that internalized racism can do to the most vulnerable member of a community-a young girl. At the same time, I do not want to dehumanize the people who wound this girl, because that would simply repeat their mistake. Also, I want to protect this girl from the weight of the novel's inquiry, and thus decided to tell the story from multiple perspectives. In this way, I shape a silence while breaking it, keeping the girl's dignity intact."-Toni Morrison

This "powerful coming of age" (Chicagocritic.com) play is a "moving drama that preserves the vigor and the disquiet of Ms. Morrison's novel...for theatergoers of any age, it is not to be missed" (The New York Sun).

Los Angeles based director, Bernadette Speakes, helms the Hollywood Area production, featuring All The Way West Productions veterans Marcus Clark-Oliver (The Watsons Go To Birmingham) as Cholly Breedlove/Daddy, Ken Ivy (The Watsons Go To Birmingham) as Soaphead Church, and Victoria-Elizabeth Newman (The Watsons Go To Birmingham) as Maureen Peal/White Girl. Newcomers Briana Price as Claudia MacTeer, ReSheda Terry as Frieda MacTeer, Rodnesha Green as Pecola Breedlove, Yolanda Ross as Mama/Woman 1, Nicole Watts as Mrs. Breedlove, Schantelle Cason as Woman 2/Darlene, and Victoria Allen as Woman 3.

The creative team for The Bluest Eye includes Shari Rhone (Choreographer), Scott Thure (Set Designer), Ashphord Jacoway (Costume Designer), Matt Richter (Light & Sound Designer), and Pam Noles (Stage Manager).

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