For http://www.thebritishblacklist.com 14th October 2013 : http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/shakara-speaks-somalia-seaton-writer-play-crowning-glory/
BLACK PEOPLE’S HAIR! Is a subject that has inspired intense emotion and vigorous debate for generations. It can reasonably argued that the various political movements and cultural trends encompassing the international Black experience in the last century, can be identified through a study of the hairstyles that accompanied them.
Black Hair conjures up images of everything from the celebration of certain textures – labelled as “Good Hair” to “Natural Nazi’s” hell bent on destroying perm, weave and supposedly the women who wear them.
With all the high levels of intensity surrounding such an issue, for many it may be considered safer to steer well clear of raising it. Writer, thespian and Director – Somalia Seaton however, has decided to get to the proverbial root of the matter with her scriptural debut ‘Crowning Glory’running from 17th October at Theatre Royal, Stratford East.
Crowning Glory chronicles the lives of seven women through their journey with their hair. It aims to shed light on the many issues that Black women face in modern society,
“I feel like Women have so much pressure to be perfect and to be everything and its not plausible. Society bred that. How you look, how you’re suppose to look after your husband, how you’re suppose to look after your kids, the fact that you’re suppose to work – how you’re suppose to live. Like – it’s not plausible to be everything to everyone all of the time –And ‘look fantastic’. And when I say ‘look fantastic’ that’s associating it with the media’s idea of what fantastic and perfect is – which is not plausible.
“There’s an ideal of beauty and not every woman can fit into that ideal. In fact I don’t think any woman of any race can fit that ideal. When you’re a woman of colour, you’re even further away from that ideal – the western ideal. And people don’t realise what an effect that has on young girls. I wanted to explore some of the effects that those ideals have on the development of young girls.”
The result of said exploration is a multi-layered ensemble piece placing the many uncomfortable themes that commonly feature within the Afrikan-Caribbean experience under the microscope. Possibly the greatest testimony to the writer’s intent at confronting the issues head on, are the names that bring its seven characters to life. Be prepared to meet; Bounty, Panther, Half Breed, Picky ‘Ead, Bald ‘Ead, Hair Comb and Token.
Evidently Crowning Glory is not a one dimensional diatribe designed to push a shallow message. While the character names may be considered inflammatory, the rawness they conjure is especially designed to speak to an even more raw reality:
“The names were important to me because we give each other labels all the time. Those little throw away comments that we make culturally, within families, within the playground. You call a mixed race woman a half breed like it’s nothing and that will stick with her. So what I wanted to explore was how these names also contribute to our sense of self. Someone calls you a ‘picky’ead’ the whole way through your school life and it’s other people that look like you that call you a picky’ead, what does that do to your sense of self when you take in to account the macro world as well? It was important for me to give these characters names that several women can relate to.”
Like many works of art, the spark for Crowning Glory came through the artists’ personal experience. Somalia lives to give back to her community as founder of “No Ball Games Allowed”, using forum theatre as a tool for engaging inner city, so called “disaffected” and “Special needs” youth. Working in a school brought her face to face with a challenging experience:
“These girls came up to me and asked me to draw them princesses. It just so happened that they were all different races and I just instinctively made their princesses look just like them. So the blonde girl, I got a yellow pen, coloured in her hair. It just so happened that the Nigerian girl was last and I came to her I drew her braids and it had beads on – and she just started crying. She told me that that’s not what princesses look like. So I asked her what princesses look like and she pointed to the white girl with blonde hair”
Many may be familiar with similar examples of Dr. Kenneth Clarke’s 1950’s ‘Doll Test’, replicated in Kiri Davis’ 2009 award winning short – ‘A Girl Like Me’. Confronted with this real life eventuality, Somalia was struck by how deeply a 6 year old girl in modern society had internalised these ideals of beauty. Beyond the mere shock, she reflected upon it as a personal challenge to herself:
“…I had this really long weave in my hair. I remember being sat there thinking I am about to give you this big speech about how beautiful your hair is and I know that you idolise me…Because they would just run after me all the time and wanna play with my weave and I just thought, I just don’t know how to tell you how amazing you are when I am not showing you through my actions that actually what grows out of your head is beautiful and you’re as much of a princess as she is”.
Seaton’s honesty is apparent in her every word. Whilst she’s assertive about the impact that this experience had on her, she continues:
“I am by no means saying that anyone who wears a weave is setting a bad a example necessarily. But I am saying that at that moment, I felt like I had to make more conscious decisions if I wanted to have the impact I wanted to have on the young girls that looked up to me.”
This experience goes beyond the writing of Crowning Glory, contributing towards defining the purpose and direction of Somalia’s creative efforts. Upon realising that she was not a “Regular jobbing actor”, she decided to take a break from the stage to explore her options. A career clinic with director, playwright and mentor Rikki Beadle Blair, brought her to the realisation of herself as a “Cultural Ambassador”, contributing to making art, not for art’s sake, but theatre that mattered;
“I recognise that the power is writing and directing. For the kind of artist I want to be I need to write. So it’s not that I’ll ever act again – it’s just that I need to write.”
The power being in the writing, lies in fact that they who write, define the story. This is a particular challenge for writers of Afrikan descent for whom many stories essential to our heritage, are yet untold:
“We are massively under represented and misrepresented often. Being African and being a woman – being able to tell stories that are culturally relevant to who I am is important to me.”
Somalia is not content to simply complain the problem, but intends to make herself part of the solution. While uncomfortable with the “tidy box” labelled as “Black Theatre”, she sees it as necessary that Black writer’s, directors and actors, take responsibility for telling stories from their own unique perspective. Only then can we bring about wider understanding and authentic appreciation of the broad and multi-faceted Black experience.
So in steps Somalia Seaton with a story to tell. Add Dawn Reid, another Afrikan woman director and a majority Afrikan Woman cast to the mix, Crowning Glory is set to challenge the boundaries of thought and practice, on, in front of and behind the stage.
interview conducted by @ShakaRaBKS for the british blacklist