The leading ladies of Eclipsed just received a top honor. The nominees for this year’s Tony Awards was revealed to critical-acclaim, and this announcement probably has the cast of Broadway’s aforementioned production jumping for joy.
Eclipsed was nominated for Best Play alongside other productions like The Humans, King Charles III, and The Father. In an earlier interview with VIBE, director Liesl Tommy shared her thoughts on the importance of depicting real African women on Broadway.
“I’m from South Africa originally and I have a very rigorous point of view when it comes to portraying Africa and African stories in the West because often I feel that they’re incredibly general and they treat the continent as if it’s a country. It’s not specific,” she says. “From the very beginning, my mission was to make it as specific as possible. Therefore, what I think the critics are responding to is that they are really drawn into the lives of these specific women in this specific place, Liberia, at this specific time during this conflict period.”
In the same interview, actress Saycon Sengbloh, who plays Wife No. 1, revealed her elation in acting alongside women who look just like her. “I’m really proud that African women are getting a lens on us. As an African woman, as an African American woman, just as a Black woman within the Diaspora, women of color from Africa to Brazil need to be represented,” she said.
Eclipsed is currently going strong on Broadway.