TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Powerful and color-blind. Those are the words that continue to flash across my brain as I reflect on a preview of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf" that I saw last Friday.

In my mind's eye, I "see" the word powerful, because it describes the range of emotion -- some of it gut-wrenching -- conveyed by this all-female cast in the show, which opens Friday at Bakersfield Community Theatre.

As for color-blind, that phrase represents my hope that, after seeing this show, skin color will become invisible to local directors when announcing auditions for their shows. Casting a black actor in a traditionally white role has happened occasionally in Bakersfield theaters, but not often enough in my view.

Thomas G. Robinson, the director of "For Colored Girls ..." tells me that only two members of his cast have had previous experience. So why, I wonder, is this the first time the other five have appeared on stage in Bakersfield? I'm telling you, all of these women have a lot to offer when it comes to creating a believable character.

True, this production is BCT's annual recognition of Black History Month. Indeed, playwright Ntozake Shange meant for it to be acted by black women. But these seven BCT actresses would do equally well in productions that are not so narrowly focused.

The play, or choreopoem as Shange prefers to call it, is rich in language -- the words are well-chosen, the meter rhythmic -- as the women, individually and collectively tell about their struggles and their triumphs as they search, and ultimately find, meaning in their lives. The production is further enlivened by singing and dancing, well-choreographed by Laquette Milner.

Perhaps as a metaphor for the rainbow in the title, each character is named for a color. Each actress's costume emphasizes the color she depicts.

Full-voiced Detreice Palmer, dynamic as the Lady in Brown, opened the show with the song, "My Name is Aunt Sarah." And the way Palmer sang the song quickly got my attention.

There is quite a bit of humor in the first part of the first act, which includes the entire ensemble performing an energetic lip-synched version of "Dancin' in the Streets." Yet as the action progresses, the story takes on a more serious tone. A highlight is a scene in which Rahkiah Brown, the Lady in Purple, talks about Cajuns, the heat of New Orleans and "strange liquid sounds through the swamp," while Althea Williams, the Lady in Green, does a graceful and sensuous dance in the background.

Sheila Robinson-Owens as the Lady in Red, is outstanding in an emotional scene about a woman named Crystal. At the rehearsal, I found myself almost hypnotized as she switched, within seconds, back and forth between the voice and actions of Crystal to those of a man -- her abusive boyfriend -- and then briefly to the voice of the couple's innocent child.

Also in the show are Beneece Davis, the Lady in Yellow; Vina Jefferson, Lady in Orange; and Venessa Duncan, Lady in Blue. Tomeka Powell is the producer and Stacy Peterson, stage manager.

Shange, a native of St. Louis who attended Barnard College and the University of Southern California, wrote "For Colored Girls..." in the mid-1970s. It was first performed in a bar in Berkeley. It later appeared on Broadway where it won an Obie in 1977 and was considered a breakthrough for black playwrights in the world of drama.

Although the play's subject matter explores the lives of black women it has a universal appeal in its ability to reach out to anyone who has experienced rape, emotional or physical abuse, or infidelity.

Performances continue at BCT through Feb. 25.

V-Day at The Empty Space

V-Day, an international campaign to stop violence against women and girls, has continued to grow since it was founded in 1998. According to its website, it now is actively observed in 140 countries.

For the past eight years, The Empty Space has observed the "day" in early February. The theater's V-Day has been expanded along the way and this year will include two different productions that will be performed this weekend plus an informational event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday that includes vendors, refreshments and entertainment.

Proceeds will benefit the local Alliance Against Family Violence and Sexual Assault. Up until now, said Guinevere PH Dethlefson, coordinator of the this year's events, the theater has raised more than $22,000 for the Alliance from its V-day productions and fairs.

Eve Ensler's "Vagina Monologues," directed by Alison Martin, will be presented at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

"Herstory" is slated for the theater's late show slot at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

"All of the monologues that will be in 'Herstory' will be original true stories about women, written and performed by the people that lived them," said Michelle Guerrero Tolley, the director.

A new production, it was conceived by Tolley during her experience as co-director, with Martin, of last's year's "Vagina Monologues."

"As an exercise for our actors we had each of them write their own monologues and then share them with each other, kind of like their very own 'Vagina Monologues,'" she said. "The stories they came up with were so beautiful, poignant and sad that I wanted to bring those stories and others to as many other people as possible."

Tolley said she also is encouraging men to take part in "Herstory," perhaps writing stories about how women have affected their lives.

As of this writing, however, only women are scheduled to participate. They are Jan Hefner, Gai Smith, Caroline Clark, Kaitlin Hulsey, Martin and Dethlefson.

Weatherford paintings at CSUB

Off and on for the past four months, Mary Weatherford, an artist who lives in Los Angeles, has been getting to know Bakersfield by visiting with an array of local residents and doing research in libraries and museums.

In recent weeks she has lived here full time as she created, with the assistance of students from Cal State Bakersfield, an exhibition that opens this evening on campus in the Todd Madigan Gallery.

"Mary makes paintings with vinyl paint on linen and gesso," said Joey Kotting, curator. "And some of these particular paintings will have 'slithers' of neon lighting on them -- they are really beautiful."

Weatherford, who was born in Ojai, studied at Princeton for her bachelor's degree in art history/visual arts and earned her master of fine arts at Bard College in upstate New York. She has exhibited internationally and in the United States. Her most recent solo show, "Cave at Pismo," was held in 2011 at Brennan & Griffin, a contemporary art gallery in New York City.

The Madigan Gallery's usual hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 1-5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free.