::Black Girl Ugly @ WOW Cafe Theater::

Sh*t. I hate being the straggler who comes to the party after all the liquor is gone. Well, looks like I'm that dude tonight. At any rate, I feel compelled to let folk know about a little production at E. 4th Street's Wow Cafe Theater called Black Girl Ugly starring Ashley Brockington, Nicole Cain, and Lee Avant. When I first heard about it, I was a bit skeptical. After reading the synopsis, I thought it was going to come off like some pared down version of Ntozake Shange's groundbreaking 1976 stage play For Colored Girls...

But with the revival of Shange's play on Broadway recently thwarted due to loss of funding (despite a cast which included India.Arie), I guess Black Girl Ugly is as close as it's gonna get. But to its benefit, Black Girl Ugly may employ a bit more immediacy, being that it's a contemporary multimedia performance art piece verses simply a stage play. Hmm. Go out and see for yourself tomorrow night. Unfortunately, tomorrow night is also the last performance. So make the trip to the East Village and see these ladies tell their story about the imposition of angular standards of beauty from the other side of the looking glass. More info on the play here. Visit Black Girl Ugly at MySpace here.

Black Grrrlz R Dee-licious presents...
Black Girl Ugly
...a multimedia performance piece investigating Black Girl self esteem.
June 11th through June 27th , 2009
Weekends only: Thursday, Friday & Saturday @ 8pm

WOW Café Theater
59-61 East 4th St.
(between Bowery & 2nd Ave)
4th Floor
F train to 2nd Ave.
Tickets: $10 at the door
blackgirlugly@gmail.com
For Reservations: 718-419-1094

Synopsis:
It ain't easy comin' up Black not to mention female, in these so-called United States. Have you ever considered how difficult it is to cultivate a healthy self-image growing up surrounded by the superficial din of white media? In Black Girl Ugly Ashley Brockington, Lee Avant & Nicole Cain take you into the collective subconscious of Black Girls trying to hold fast to their love of self. Through movement, poetry and song they contrast growing up surrounded by the "truth" of white girl beauty while living in the reality of Black Girl Ugly. True to their legacy these artists offer no clean endings in this story of black girl victory. The contra-fictions linger and always will.