Theater production to feature minorities
By Bryce J. Tache Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
More than 50 Black and Hispanic students will be doin' everything from William Shakespeare to Janet Fletcher, who is a celebration of minority talents.
"!We Be Doin TI," a project that "iwe舞台, drama, music and poetry, will be performed at 8 p.m. Sunday in Crafton-Prever Theatre."
LeWan Alexander, instructor in theater and film, is directing the show, which is being presented by the department of theater and film and theatre. Thesures with the cooperation of the KU Office of Minority Affairs.
'People need to get over the color. Maybe it would be best if everyone saw people as gray. It's important to know where you come from, but it's so much more than skin color. I think it takes things like 'IWe Be Doin' it! to make people aware of that.'
Green senior
Pamela Cook
"The project expresses those things in life we experience." Alexander said. "It expresses those things we attempt to hide, those things we relish, those things we get excited about. Hopefully, we will give something that people can take with them when they leave."
Alexander said he wanted students of all races to attend.
"Some people will be made uncomfortable by certain pieces," he said. "They are not sure they hope that everyone will be enlightened. The show is about having people wake up and see what these students want to express and how they feel."
Alexander said the show was a
collaboration between himself and the students performing.
"It is simple, free and unencumbered by sets and lights," he said. "There are no fancy laser shows. There are just actors, dancers and on stage. People should come to expect a good time and feel welcomed."
Darrin Person, Kansas City, Kan, senior, will perform four dramatic pieces in the show.
"This has been long overdue in this department," he said. "It is going to serve as an outlet for all the repressed ability on this campus. Minority students have felt that they didn't have an audience.
"This is a precursor to a cultural center at the University. This is proof positive that there is a desperate need for a cultural center that blends the creative juices of people of different races and different cultures."
Moses Smith, Junction City senior agreed.
“There have been a whole lot of things lacking at the University of Kansas, including the knowledge of the talents that we as minorities he said. “Putting those talents in one book is essential.”
Pamela Cook, Green senior, will be acting, singing and dancing in the show.
"The best thing is having the opportunity to show this talent and being able to express what is inside us," she said. "It has not been well known that there is a place for mindsets at the University of Kansas."
Cook said she hoped minority students would have more chances for expression in the future.
"People label and box other people into certain categories without seeing who they are," she said. "People need to get over the color. Maybe it would be best if everyone saw people as gray. It's important to know where you come from, but it's so much more than skin color. I think it takes things like 'We Be Doin It!' to make people aware of that."
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