Re: RAT OyamO

[Troy Hollar <thollar@cohnwellspartners.com>]

Re OyamO:

If you know his work, you probably know The Resurrection of Lady Lester,
Fried Chicken and Invisibility, and, more recently, I AM A MAN, about the
Memphis sanitation workers' strike of '68 (where MLK visited as a sort of
morale booster when he was killed).  Three of the most powerful works for
theater I've ever read/seen.

The man is a mentor of mine.  I studied under him at U. of Michigan a
decade ago.



>I just read a great (new?) play by OyamO (a.k.a.Charles F. Gordon) about
>William Sheppard, the first black missionary sent into the Congo... set
>around 1890- 1910 or so.. deals with Belgian King Leopold, cannibalism (which
>grew out of the horrible corruption of colonialism), and Sheppard's attempt
>to create "one black nation" which tribesmen in Africa responded to with...
>'who are black people?'  It's  scary, hilarious, theatrical and smart.  Do
>people know OyamO's work?  This play is wonderful. He deserves to get A LOT
>OF GRANT MONEY for writing it.
>
>Kelly Stuart