The Glorious World of Crowns Kinks and Curls at Different Strokes
A cast of three talented women speak to something much larger in The Glorious World of Crowns Kinks and Curls, playwright Keli Goff’s ode to the unnecessary conflicts that Black women face in regard to their hair and the power that sisterhood can play in navigating these obstacles.
The kickoff to Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective’s 14th season runs the gamut of emotions as Naimah Coleman, Zakiya Bell-Rogers, and Kirby Gibson each embody an impressive variety of characters, as well as craft distinct chemistry in their multiple shared scenes under the careful direction of Stephanie Hickling Beckman.
While only one vignette technically takes place in Laura Lowe’s detailed beauty parlor set, all three actors are present and deliver arguably the show’s most entertaining exchange. But considering the subject matter, the backdrop proves endlessly fitting and versatile, transforming from a theater to a child’s bedroom to Capitol Hill as costuming, accents, and Caroline Daniels’ lighting do the heavy lifting.
Fixtures of local theater, Gibson and Coleman impressively portray their numerous different women and are matched by Bell-Rogers, improbably making her stage debut as an adult after serving behind the scenes and as Different Strokes’ longtime post-show talk-back facilitator. The scene with Bell-Rogers’ journalist and Gibson’s refugee is easily the most powerful story on a thematic level, and while the vignette’s dialogue often struggles to gel, the pair nail the payoff.
As the trio’s characters individually and jointly reflect on the times when their hair unfairly stood in the way of their ambitions and everyday doings, projected images connect their stories with famous and lesser-known historical figures who experienced similar struggles, binding them to a lineage of strong women who fought so that future generations would hopefully have an easier path to success.
Indeed, it’s in that multi-generational scope that The Glorious World of Crowns Kinks and Curls proves most powerful. While stories of opposition from the white world are sadly expected, the play’s tales of systemic issues within the Black community hit particularly hard.
The dangerous misconception that because one person struggled in a particular way, others must suffer the same fate plays out in fascinating fashion in an office encounter between Bell-Rogers’ pioneering Black woman at the firm and Coleman’s relatively new hire.
But along with Gibson’s show-stopping monologue as a modern-day politician who refuses to put up with racist nonsense, the progress evident in the final few scenes ends the show on an optimistic note. These moments find a new generation of young women experiencing the same old conflicts but, in an encouraging shift, with seemingly more support from their parents.
Even more impactful are up-and-coming professionals given clearer paths to success by those who’ve been in their shoes, overcome hardships, and don’t want to see people like them compromise something as integral as their hair to get what they deserve. These closing revelations suggest that positive change is occurring, and the more people that see this wonderful production, the greater chance this message has of spreading.
The Glorious World of Crowns Kinks and Curls runs through Feb 18. Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective is housed in the Tina McGuire Theatre within Asheville’s Wortham Center for the Performing Arts. Visit differentstrokespac.org for tickets and details.
(Photo by Eli Cunningham)
