Editor’s Note: In celebration of Southern Rep’s newest play, Eclipsed–written by Danai Gurira and directed by Malika Oyetimein–we talked with the five women who will take the stage opening night on April 18. Eclipsed is the story of five women, and their lives are set on a nightmarish detour by the Liberian Civil War. As they navigate the dangers of captivity and imagine what the future could hold, the arrival of a new girl threatens to upend their delicately balanced community.
Southern Rep’s production of Eclipsed will run from April 18- May 16 (Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 3:00 at Loyola University, Marquette Theatre). You can purchase tickets here.
Idella Alana, who plays Helena/Wife Number One in Southern Rep’s production of Eclipsed (photo by: Josh Brasted)
Name: Idella Alana
Role in Eclipsed : Helena/ Wife Number One
Favorite line from the play: “You got to tap dat powa oh.” -Maima
What advice in life would you take from your character?
“Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?”
This is an excerpt from Maya Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise.” Sometimes in life there are circumstances that are painfully beyond your control. Circumstances that work entirely against you. But no man nor demon, or whatever it may be, can overthrow the power that lives inside you. As long as there is breath in your body you must garner whatever strength you have to stand your ground and fight the role of victim. “You got to tap dat powa oh.” One day you will rise on the other side of it. Your power is your hope.
What ritual do you have to get ready for a performance?
I listen to music to set the needed mood. I meditate, and I read all of my lines before every show up until closing for security. I also like to munch on almonds.
If you could take one piece of the set design with you, what would it be and why?
I would take my bed. It’s not much, but it’s the one place where my character can breathe and think to herself.
Why is performing this play in New Orleans, specifically, incredibly important?
Well, I believe, first of all, that this play is incredibly important and should be performed everywhere, but in the words of New Orleans first ever female mayor–our first African American female mayor–LaToya Cantrel,l “We’re trying to build people up so that they can feel their worth… That’s how I’m going to measure myself: How am I impacting the most vulnerable.”
I watched an interview where Danai Gurira stated that she writes to create complex stories for unheard voices, and that she wrote Eclipsed because she wanted to tell the story of these five African women straight from the source–without any mixer so people can see and know that though marginalized, these are full and capable people.
There’s a huge population of people here in New Orleans that have always felt and been treated as though they don’t matter, and that their voice don’t matter, and Hurricane KATRINA shined a light that proved it. Every year during its anniversary we claim resilience, but we forget that some are still displaced and are still dealing with it’s effects. Eclipsed is a story that needs to be told because it is not told enough.
What was the most common food ordered/eaten during rehearsals?
Chips and chocolate chip cookies! We needed comfort food because Danai and our director, Malika Oyetimein, didn’t come to play with no actor trying to phone it in.
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