THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY FEBBRUARY 2005
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009
NEWS
3A
EVENT
Cast portrays spectrum of race, gender and sexual issues
BY DAVID UGARTE
dugarte@kansan.com
A cast of seven women, wearing dresses in seven colors of the rainbow, will take the stage this weekend to delve into the many shades of complicated issues.
DETAILS
Koga Moffor, Overland Park senior, Cali Gilman, Olathe alumna, and Brittany Barney, Paola sophomore, rehearses Tuesday for the Multicultural Theatre Initiative's production of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered When the Rainbow is Enuf." The play runs Friday and Saturday pitts, and Sunday afternoon at the Lawrence Arts Center.
This weekend the Multicultural Theatre Initiative will present its second production, "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf," a play written by Ntozake Shange. DeAndrea Herron, executive director of the MTI, said the play illuminated the identity of women in America as the characters revealed themselves — their lives, triumphs, hardships and ultimately their discovery of inner strength and love.
WHERE: Lawrence Arts Center
The play is a compilation of monologues, poetry and music. The characters describe their relationships with men, friends, their community and themselves. It is set in a time when segregation
"It is a lot about coming into your own; whatever you have gone through as a woman, it's about finding yourself," Moffor said.
She described the play as stunning and explosive; a play that women from all walks of life can connect to and that men can respect and admire.
COST: $5 suggested donations
**WHAT:** For Colored Girls
Who Have Considered
Suicide When the Rainbow
is Enuf by Ntozake Shange
**WHEN:** Friday and
Saatday at 7:30 p.m. and
Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
**WHERE:** Warner Arts
Rachael Gray/KANSAN
Koga Moffor, Overland Park senior, is playing the Lady in Blue. She said she thought the situations portrayed would resonate with audience members, whether they knew someone who had gone through something similar or experienced it firsthand.
Doors open 30 minutes before the show begins.
and prejudice were prominent. The play addresses issues such as abortion, bad relationships, virginity and rape.
"You have to give your whole self to this and jump in feet first, not being afraid to fall," Herron said.
Some actresses are veterans, while this will be Moffor's first acting experience.
"We have a wide array of experience in acting going on in this play. I think that makes it very real," Moffor said. "Not only is the material interesting, funny, heartbreaking, empowering, and striking, but also you will see an amazingly diverse cast and seasoned actresses and other people who are completely new to it. It should be great."
Herron said that she had wanted to either perform the play or direct it and that this experience was a dream come true.
"This has been an amazing expe-
frience for all of us. The cast is simply beautiful and I sincerely mean that," Herron said. "They bring so many diverse qualities to this show. It has been a journey for all of us."
women voice the events in their lives, but the play gives a voice to some topics that have been silent. Herron said.
Herron said she saw herself and women in her life portrayed through stories in the play. Not all
"Being surrounded by women in my life who have been pushed to the limit but have stood strong and come out on top is why I do this
Felicia Fairley, 2008 graduate, is playing the Lady in Red. Fairley said the play had strong language and adult content, and a profound message for those mature enough to handle it.
show', Herron said, "If they can make it, we all can."
"Although I have graduated from the University, I still get the satisfaction of being a part of a wonderful production," Fairley said. "This is a powerful piece that I feel all students should see."
Edited by Sonya English
NATIONAL
No-tax pledge stalls legislatures
Lawmakers promise to oppose tax hikes, citing bad economy
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Why did it take California lawmakers so long to pass a budget to close the state's $42 billion deficit? To find one reason, look about 3,000 miles east to an office in Washington.
Anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist has been persuading lawmakers across the country to sign a pledge to vote against any and all tax increases.
Norquist said one in six state
"Serve and protect the state not loot it," the president of Americans for Tax Reform said in an interview this week.
lawmakers across the country has signed his Taxpayer Protection Pledge. Members of Congress, governors and attorneys general also have signed it.
In California, 40 of the 44 Republicans in the Legislature — and not one of the 75 Democrats — have signed on. And nearly every one of the GOP lawmakers refused to break their vow even as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a fellow Republican, warned of "financial Armagedon" unless the two-year tax-raising budget was approved. He said that the deficit was so big it could not be closed with cuts alone and that those who thought so had "a big math problem."
The final spending plan to close California's shortfall from June 2010 includes $12.8 billion in higher sales, personal income and auto taxes.
"I'm not voting for the budget because I signed a tax tangle; I'm
not voting for the bill because raising taxes will devastate our economy for all Californians," said state Sen. Tony Strickland of Thousand Oaks, one of those who kept their word.
Some Democratic lawmakers see the no-tax pledge taken by their counterparts as irresponsible and an obstacle to compromise.
"The signature clearly abrogates the legislative responsibility which voters entrusted to them," said Sen. Mark Leno, a Democrat from San Francisco. "It's as stupid as my signing a pledge that I'll never make cuts."
As if to underscore that point, many of those who signed Norquisit's pledge are finding they have to backpedal as the nation's recession deepens and they are left with few options to close gaping budget deficits.
DIPLOMACY Obama visits Canada asks for help abroad
OTTAWA — President Barack Obama courted warmer relations with America's snowy northern neighbor Thursday, declining to ask war-weary Canada to do more in Afghanistan, promising he won't allow a protectionist creep into U.S. trade
policy and talking reassuringly around thorny energy issues.
Obama-happy crowds cheered Obama's seven-hourvisit, his first outside U.S. borders as president, and he returned the compliment with a quick stop at an indoor market where he delighted shopkeepers by picking up pastries and souvenirs for his daughters.
that we could not have a better friend and ally," Obama said as he appeared side-by-side with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at Gothic Parliament Hill. He later slipped slightly as he walked to his plane and joked that the weather reminded him of Chicago.
Associated Press
"I love this country and think
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
1. 2023-04-28
Join AIESEC on Thursday, February 19th, 2009
for a night of Middle-Eastern and North African culture.
Learn about opportunities to work abroad through AISEC, and then you are welcome to participate in a "Global Village" where KU students from countries in these regions will have booths displaying their country and culture.
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You will be able to ask questions and gain cultural enlightenment. The festivities begin at 7 pm in the BCM (Across from the Kansas Union, north of the Alumni Center).