“Soul-searing… Eclipsed [/i]shines with a compassion that makes us see beyond the suffering to the indomitable humanity of its characters.” Charles Isherwood, New York Times [/i] [/i] “A major achievement… Eclipsed [/i]is shattering in part because, while the Liberian Civil War finally ended, the struggle continues in a ravished human landscape. We can do little more than bear witness—something this miraculous play helps boldly to accomplish.” Jeremy Gerard, Deadline [/i] [/i] “Danai Gurira’s remarkable play is an epic of war and suffering… painted with warmth, humor and rage…A considerable work of art.” Stewart Pringle, Time Out London [/i] [/i] “It’s a common lament that there are no good roles for women. But Danai Gurira has packed this harrowing drama with five of them.” Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Daily News [/i] [/i] Amid the chaos of the Liberian Civil War, the captive wives of a rebel officer band together to form a fragile community—until the balance of their lives is upset by the arrival of a new girl. Drawing on reserves of wit and compassion, Eclipsed [/i]reveals distinct women who must discover their own means of survival in this chilling and humanizing story of transformation and renewal in a hostile world of horrors not of their own making. Danai Gurira is an award-winning Zimbabwean American actor and playwright. Her plays include In the Continuum [/i], The [/i] Convert [/i], Familiar [/i]and Eclipsed [/i]. As an actor, she is best known for her role as Michonne on AMC’s The Walking Dead [/i]. She is the co-founder of Almasi Collaborative Arts, and founder LOVE OUR GIRLS: a campaign bringing awareness to injustices faced by women and girls throughout the world. (Visit: logpledge.org [/i])
Western cultural impositions and Ancient African traditions make strange bedfellows. Never sleeping with both eyes shut for fear the other will strike. It’s 1896 in Rhodesia and Jekesai has just been given her new, Catholic name. Chilford, the only black Roman Catholic teacher in the region, has decided she’ll now be known as Ester, wear European clothing and speak only in English. She’s torn away from everything that she knows by her fellow African who earnestly believes the promises of the White man. The Convert is a compelling exploration of a pivotal moment in history, when resisting the invading Western culture could mean death.
It’s best to work with the system, and right now – the system is war. 2003, civil war is raging in Liberia. At a rebel army base four young women are doing their best to survive the conditions of the war. Yet sometimes, the greatest threat comes not from the enemy’s guns, but from the brutality of those on your own side. With the arrival of a new girl, who can read, and an old one, who can kill, how might this transform the future of this hard-bitten sisterhood?
Premiered at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre in 2009, and opened Off-Broadway at The Public Theater in the fall of 2015.Danai Gurira is the recipient of the Whiting Award, is a former Hodder Fellow, and has been commissioned by Yale Rep, Center Theatre Group, Playwrights Horizons, and the Royal Court. She is currently developing a pilot for HBO.As an actor, Gurira is known for the television show Treme and The Walking Dead.