Women's Work 2011: Mary McCallum of BLACK GIRL LOST

Tennessee Women's Theater Project returns to Nashville's Z. Alexander Looby Theater for the fifth year running - beginning Friday May 6 - for its annual Women's Work festival of performing and visual arts created by women. Running through Sunday, May 22, the festival cuts a broad swath across styles and genres to offer eleven completely different programs: poetry and essays; one-woman shows; staged readings of new plays; film, dance, music and a display of visual art works in the theater lobby. On Friday night, May 20, audiences will be treated to Black Girl Lost, a new play by the prolific Mary McCallum (who also directs her cast), an acclaimed local actress, writer and director who is currently playwright-in-residence at Tennessee Repertory Theatre.

Tell me about your the show... We all know the names Laci Peterson, Chandra Levy and Natalee Holloway, but how many of us know of Matrice Richardson? In Black Girl Lost two mothers, one black and one white, have daughters that are missing at the same time. Black Girl Lost explores the issue of greater media coverage given to missing Caucasian women than those of other ethnicities and how mothers and families try to cope when a child is missing. How do you go on when you can't find your child?

How does this show reflect who you are as a woman? As a woman and a mother, this issue is very important to me. Ebony magazine just published an article in its May issue indicating that, according to FBI statistics, 273,985 people of color were reported missing in the United States in 2010. In eight of 10 of those cases, the victims were African-American. I read about the stories of African-American women who have vanished, and it breaks my heart to think about what their mothers, families and friends must be going through. And yet, while we hear a lot in the media about high-profile cases of women who have disappeared, we rarely hear as much about African-American women and other minorities. I wanted to write a story that might help bring awareness to this issue.

What about this show speaks most eloquently to the audience? I think that showing the two women's experiences, one Caucasian and one African-American shows the contrasts between how the two cases are handled, but at the same time shows that at the end of the day all mothers - no matter what their race - just want the best for their children and want them to be safe. It also explores how families are torn a part when a child is missing.

Why should people come see you? I think that the audience will find the play compelling and will hopefully be able to identify with what these families are experiencing.

How does this show represent your personal point of view? Again I think it's important that we bring awareness to the issue surrounding missing women. As a mother, I can not even begin to imagine how it would feel to not be able to find my child. And to get little assistance from the media or the police would be further devastating. I talked to a mother in D.C. whose daughter has been missing for months and her experience is heartbreaking. Hopefully, discussion can help bring more attention to this issue and more support for mothers and families living through this nightmare.

- May 20, 7:30 p.m.: Staged Reading: Black Girl Lost, a play by Mary McCallum. Single tickets to Woman's Work are $5 each; a $30 Festival Pass is good for unlimited admissions. Women's Work opens Friday, May 6, at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, adjacent to the Looby Branch Library, 2301 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. The festival continues for eleven performances through Sunday, May 22. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and 2:30 pm Sundays. For reservations and information, call (615) 681-7220, or visit the company's web site at www.twtp.org.

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