Actors in Play/ Characters
Helena(Wife #1) – Saycon Sengbloh
Maima (Wife #2) – Zainab Jah
Bessie (Wife #3) – Pascale Armand
The Girl (Wife #4) Lupita Nyong’0
Rita – Akosua Busia
Structure of Play and Plot
It is a play that was written by Danai Gurira. Eclipsed takes place in Liberia in 2003 and tells the story of five women and their journey through the Second Liberian Civil war. IT took place in a one room shack. The shack is a army camp for rebel group called Liberians united for Reconciliation and Democracy who were trying to depose Charles Taylor, the president of Liberia. The two wives Helena and bessie were kidnapped by a commanding officer and forced to be his wife and have sex with him at his request. The women take care of ‘The girl’ who was abducted and raped. Maima returns from war and tries to convince ‘the girl’ to leave and become a soldier with her. Rita then enters as a worker for a peace organization who is trying to end the conflict. The stories goes on into ‘the girl; trying to figure out what life she wants to have with the abusive commanding officer or her new life as a soldier.
Educated Opinion
Eclipsed is a play that shows many of the struggles many women face during war. It shows how hard the journey can be when trying to make the best decision on how to stay alive and safe at the same time. Something I really liked about the play was that it was not only an all black cast but also all women. This is something that is not normally seen. This is a play I will definitely take the time to watch over the break.
