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CROWNS
By Regina Taylor Adapted from the book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry Crowns, a play with music and dance, is adapted from a book by Michael Cunningham and Craig Marberry. Crowns weaves together a variety of stories from different characters, time periods and perspectives that, when integrated with music and dance, create a tapestry of voices that transcend time and place |
Audition Info.
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Cast of Characters
(6 Female, 2 male)
Yolanda/ Ogun (Age 18 - 30) -
Yolanda is a young woman from Brooklyn. After her brother died, she was sent to live with (and to learn from) her grandmother in South Carolina.
Mother Elsie Shaw/ Obatala -
Mother Shaw is Yolanda’s grandmother and a very well-respected religious woman.
Preacher (Male)/ Elegba -
The Preacher/Man portrays many characters, from Reverend to brother to husband.
Jeanette/ Yemaya -
Jeanette is a great admirer of Mother Shaw. Nonetheless, she wouldn’t even think about loaning a hat to Mother Shaw—or to anyone else.
Velma/ Oya -
Velma grew up on a tobacco farm and later worked for a funeral home.
Mabel/ Shango -
Mabel grew up on a farm and afterward became a preacher’s wife.
Wanda/ Oshun -
Wanda, like the other women in the play, is a “hat queen.” She developed her love for hats from her Grandma Em.
Musician (Male) -
Church musician, lively character!
(6 Female, 2 male)
Yolanda/ Ogun (Age 18 - 30) -
Yolanda is a young woman from Brooklyn. After her brother died, she was sent to live with (and to learn from) her grandmother in South Carolina.
Mother Elsie Shaw/ Obatala -
Mother Shaw is Yolanda’s grandmother and a very well-respected religious woman.
Preacher (Male)/ Elegba -
The Preacher/Man portrays many characters, from Reverend to brother to husband.
Jeanette/ Yemaya -
Jeanette is a great admirer of Mother Shaw. Nonetheless, she wouldn’t even think about loaning a hat to Mother Shaw—or to anyone else.
Velma/ Oya -
Velma grew up on a tobacco farm and later worked for a funeral home.
Mabel/ Shango -
Mabel grew up on a farm and afterward became a preacher’s wife.
Wanda/ Oshun -
Wanda, like the other women in the play, is a “hat queen.” She developed her love for hats from her Grandma Em.
Musician (Male) -
Church musician, lively character!
Show Info
A gospel musical: Run time 1 hr. 50 min.
Synopsis
A moving and celebratory musical play in which hats become a springboard for an exploration of black history and identity as seen through the eyes of Yolanda a young black woman who has come down South to stay with her aunt after her brother is killed in Brooklyn. Hats are everywhere, in exquisite variety, and the characters use the hats to tell tales concerning everything from the etiquette of hats to their historical and contemporary social functioning. There is a hat for every occasion, from flirting to churchgoing to funerals to baptisms, and the tradition of hats is traced back to African rituals and slavery and forward to the New Testament and current fashion. Some rap but predominantly gospel music and dance underscore and support the narratives. The conclusion finds the standoffish young woman, whose cultural identity as a young black Brooklyn woman has been so at odds with the more traditional and older Southern blacks, embracing hats and their cultural significance as a part of her own fiercely independent identity.
A moving and celebratory musical play in which hats become a springboard for an exploration of black history and identity as seen through the eyes of Yolanda a young black woman who has come down South to stay with her aunt after her brother is killed in Brooklyn. Hats are everywhere, in exquisite variety, and the characters use the hats to tell tales concerning everything from the etiquette of hats to their historical and contemporary social functioning. There is a hat for every occasion, from flirting to churchgoing to funerals to baptisms, and the tradition of hats is traced back to African rituals and slavery and forward to the New Testament and current fashion. Some rap but predominantly gospel music and dance underscore and support the narratives. The conclusion finds the standoffish young woman, whose cultural identity as a young black Brooklyn woman has been so at odds with the more traditional and older Southern blacks, embracing hats and their cultural significance as a part of her own fiercely independent identity.
