College to present ‘The Bluest Eye’

Members of the Oberlin College Theater Department are presenting a play based on a classic Toni Morrison novel.

They will be performing “The Bluest Eye” at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 30 through Dec. 2, and at 2 p.m. on Dec. 3 at Hall Auditorium at the college.

The play is based on Morrison’s 1970 novel of the same name which follows a young African American girl growing up in Lorain during the years following the Great Depression.

The production is directed by associate professor of theater and Africana studies Justin Emeka.

“‘The Bluest Eye’ is one of the classic novels in American literature by Toni Morrison,” he said. “It was adapted by Broadway playwright Lydia Diamond based in Chicago. It was originally done by Steppenwolf in Chicago and it’s a very well done adaptation of a difficult novel.”

Emeka said he was impressed with Diamond’s ability to adapt Morrison’s text while also making it theatrical enough to allow the audience to experience the story in a new way.

This production will also feature original incidental music by Oberlin College alumnus Calen Bryant, according to Emeka.

“It really adds a nice layer and texture to the production that I’m excited about for the audience,” he said.

The production also incorporates some multimedia elements, Emeka said.

“(We use) some film and still images to help us to create the aesthetic that we have,” he said. “It’s really a non-realistic production the way the production moves so quickly. It’s not based on a lot of real sets and real props and everything, but we use a lot of creative multimedia and music to help set the setting of the production.”

According to Emeka, the novel’s story deals with a number of issues that resonate with problems that divide the country today.

“It really forces the audience to explore and delve into a question of how we value the young girls in our community and how we do or how we don’t really lift them up and celebrate them,” he said. “In particular (it deals with) how the little black girls a lot of times are deemed invisible and are passed over in mundane ways but also in more serious ways.”