Customer Reviews

The Colored Museum

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was fortunate enough to see "The Colored Museum" when it was off Broadway in 1987. It's amazing, though some might find it insensitive, especially the skit ("exhibit") called "Git on Board" which is a satire of a transAtlantic slave voyage. Other highlights include "The Hairpiece" which has two wigs, a straight one & a "nappy" one, trying to convince a woman to wear one of them. The best piece in the whole collection is a satire of Lorraine Hansberry's "Raisin in the Sun" (& the overacted movie version of the play starring Danny Glover) called "The Last Mama on the Couch" play. If anyone has a tape of the PBS presentation of "The Colored Museum," I would appreciate being able to get a copy of it because mine got cut off.

The creative and imaginative pen of Geroge C. Wolfe "paints" a canvas of honesty through humor and reflection. How often do we get to laugh at ourselves while educating yourself and others? I have used The Colored Museum in teaching liturature to my urban students and it provided a vehicle that allowed them to express a deeper understanding of themselves. Very seldom does that happen.

It's a satire with plenty of humor, featuring a series of Museum Exhibits (or theatre playlets) drawn from the African American past and it's adversity.

George C. Wolfe's play details the African-American experience, shocking the reader more and more. This shock is meant to portray the outrage and sheer madness that the situation of blacks in America provokes. Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes electrifying and political, this play is a masterwork that attacks various issues in African-American life.

I loved this play. I've checked every year since 1991 on PBS, during Black History month. It hasn't been shown again? I would love to get a copy on VHS or DVD; contact me at disney3dee@yahoo.com. I want to share it with my children.

The actors and staging are the two things that were great for this play at the Ensemble Theatre in Houston TEXAS during the 2005-2006 season. I have enjoyed several plays there.

From the opening curtain of the Colored Museum one immediate must reconcile the disturbing humor presented in jest to the travails of the Middle Passage. The wicked attempt at humor makes a horrid spectacle of the brutal struggle of those who found their way to America by captivity. In trying to make nice and hypnotize audiences with obnoxious humor, the play serves to trivialize their journey.

Sensationalism is apparent throughout the play, and one becomes a participant in the affront that Spike Lee illuminates in his film: "Bamboozled". If you like black face, these portrayals of humor upon our culture will appeal to you. The question to those who can laugh and feel good about this work if they are also amused by Don Imus, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, or anyone peddling otherwise objectionable content for entertainment. I just happen to be one that has no palette for this or the blasphemous chicken gospel plays of Spike Lee's counterpart, Mr. Tyler Perry.

While a peek at our past need not be so mortifying, the George C. Wolfe's intent is either to push the needle so far in the other direction to get next to you as assault your sense of decency. As much as it is worth reflecting differently on history, being able to laugh, and challenging familiar notions in our culture, this play fails to demonstrate a compelling value worthy of recommendation. We all like to be entertained and enjoy a good story, but for those who take plays seriously, this may give you indigestion.

If anyone knows where to find a video of "The Colored Museum" that was aired on PBS in 1991, any advice would be appreciated!
My email: carlahealy@aol.com

If anyone knows where I can by a VHS please email me at warnerbaker@hotmail.com. Thanx

I love this work and remember seeing a theatrical production of it on PBS' Great Performances. Does Anyone Know Where I Can Buy A Video Of This Production?

My email address is wtellis@nyc.rr.com

Thanks