'Single Black Female' at the Teche this Saturday

After receiving an Arts Residency at the Historic Carver Theater in New Orleans, Soulful Productions Inc. will perform its final performance of Single Black Female back home at the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.
Started by Ed “Tiger” Verdin and the late Tyra Yarber, Soulful Productions has wowed audiences and critics with its acting, direction, set and lighting design in the regional theatre world. Single Black Female is a two-woman show with rapid-fire comic vignettes that explore the lives of thirty-something African American middle-class women in urban America as they search for love, clothes and dignity in a world that fails to recognize them amongst a parade of stereotypical images.
SBF 1, an English literature professor played by LaDaisha Bowles Webber, and SBF 2, a corporate lawyer played by Tiffany Dupas, keep each other balanced as they face their fears of rejection, hopes for romance and reminisce about black girlhood wounds.
Critics say, “Webber and Dupas put on a dynamic display of chemistry, charisma and comic timing, owning the stage with confidence and grace,” while thrusting Soulful Productions within the already fast moving entertainment mecca and established theatre companies. “A promising start for the new troupe in town, making Soulful Productions a company worth watching in the new year.”
Soulful Productions is including Single Black Female into its Black History Arts celebration, which will feature black visual and literary artists as well as black filmmakers in the region. They will also be featuring a teaser of a new film, Quiet and Clear, by director Andre Rangiah and executive producer Andre Verdun Jones. The film explores a young, black, teenage girl shamed after losing her virginity and enters an arm wrestling match with small town patriarchy to reclaim control over her body. The films principle character, “Peezoo,” is Johnise Bowie, will be in attendance to discuss the filmmaking process and what the role as a young black woman meant to her. This film is currently making its rounds cross country in the film festival circuit.
Verdin, executive director of Soulful Productions and Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts Board member, said his vision of the arts in Franklin and St. Mary Parish. “Beyond of course the immediate productions we are currently producing we are striving to promote Arts Education within our local schools whether public, private or Charter,” he said. “Unfortunately, with the arts being the first budget cuts in our local schools we have to fill this void.”
Backing up the talk, Soulful Productions has partnered with the St. Mary Parish School Board to provide a free production of his play, The Forgotten Healer, an autobiographical play about the life of Dr. Emma Wakefield, Louisiana’s first African American female doctor, portrayed by St. Mary Parish talented educator Fallon Mitchell. The full production “A Celebratory Tribute to the African American Woman” which includes an excerpt of The Forgotten Healer and starts with Sojourner Truths’ “Ain’t I a Woman” speech through present day Solonge Knowles’ “I Belong Here. Do You?” will be performed in Houma at H.L. Bourgeois Auditorium March 9.
Tickets for both productions may be purchased at eventbrite.com or at Lamp Lighter Antiques in Franklin. With a busy future ahead from New Orleans and beyond, Soulful Productions can be followed by their webpage www.soulfultheatre.com and all social media platforms.