NEWS

Set in Ghana, performance at UNC examines religious, human rights, economic issues

CHAPEL HILL -- Conflicts between traditional religious practices and women's rights, as experienced in Ghana, West Africa, will be among issues examined in the performance "Is It a Human Being or a Girl?" April 18-21 and April 26-28 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Impacts of the world economy on local economies and human rights also will be examined in the performance, at 8 p.m. nightly and 2 p.m. April 21 and 28 in Studio 6 of Swain Hall, near the corner of Cameron Avenue and South Columbia Street. On April 19 and 27, the cast and director will discuss the performance afterward with the audience.

Ten UNC students from a variety of fields will perform, presenting different points of view in a montage of voices: traditional, intellectual, artistic, feminist, human rights activist and more.

Adapted and directed by Dr. D. Soyini Madison, associate professor of communication studies, the performance is based on her fieldwork in Ghana from 1998 to 2001 as a senior Fulbright Scholar.

Madison earned a master's degree in theater from the University of Illinois and a doctorate in performance studies from Northwestern University. She has been directing and performing since 1973, initially with black community and professional theater in Chicago and New York.

She performed in New York with The New Federal Theatre Co. and the National Black Theatre Association. There she acted in performances including Phillip Hayes Dean's "Sty of the Blind Pig," Charles Latham's "Madame C.J. Walker" and Sonia Sanchez's "Sister Soulja," in which she held the title role. From 1978 to 1988, she toured nationally with her one-woman show, "Our Sun Baked Lips Will Kiss the Earth."

Tickets for "Is It a Human Being or a Girl?" are $5 each at the Carolina Union Box Office (962-1449), open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Proceeds will go to the non-government human rights organization International Needs Ghana.

Contributors making the show possible are UNC's departments of communication studies, geography and African and Afro-American studies; Carolina Union Activities Board, Carolina Parents Fund, Institute of African-American Research, Sonja Haynes Stone Black Cultural Center, Office of Minority Affairs and University Center for International Studies.

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Contacts: Nancy Bolish, Carolina Union, 966-3838; Dr. Soyini Madison, 962-4944, dmadison@email.unc.edu