Lauren Shepherd

“The Colored Museum” premiered in 1986 under the direction of George C. Wolfe and has been brought back to passionate, captivating life by our very own Claire Trevor School of the Arts Drama Department, under the direction of Jaye Austin Williams. This play allows the audience to realize that African American slavery does not merely remain an event of the past. It’s understandable for viewers to expect “The Colored Museum” to be a heavy, dramatic performance; I was expecting to find an extended example of the interpretation of black slavery in the play. To my surprise, I laughed as many times as I gasped and grimaced during the eclectic play — “The Colored Museum” is the expression of every angle of thought and emotion, both understood and hidden, on the subject of African American oppression as well as submission into society.