I feel very privileged to have attended Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of Nina Simone, Four Women. I whiteness the phenomenal songstress (as well as actress), Nina Simone, in action.
It was not a traditional musical, nor was it a biography, but rather, a play centering on the rights & struggles of African American females, which pulled content from Simone’s personal experiences & featured her music.
Uniquely, this show broaches 2 human rights injustices, simultaneously. The double whammy of suppression that Nina herself (as well as her character) experienced being an African American woman, is discussed amongst the characters.
The play is set directly after the murders of children, in their church (and the church is the setting of the play), which Nina Simone’s song Mississippi Goddamn describes.