 Written and performed by Rani Moorthy
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Global stories…
Shades of Brown explores the tangled emotive subject of skin pigmentation, exposing the way in which skin colour has profound effects on the lives of three individuals.
Too White To Be Black
Nobantu is a Zulu albino - an inconvenient
condition in South Africa. With or without apartheid, she doesn’t fit
in. Coming out of the shadows she meets superstition and prejudice head-on,
in a ‘rainbow
nation’ where she is still the ‘wrong’ colour…
My Patch Of Brown
At school Sara was called a tiger – vitiligo beginning to create white
stripes on her brown Asian skin. Sara however is now a scientist
on the brink of reversing her condition…but how brown is she prepared
to go?
Fair And Lovely
After years of skin bleaching and traditional remedies,
Indian Leela on the eve of her marriage, has now come to terms with her black
skin.
She is Goddess Kali, standing on Shiva’s prone body. Kali the outsider.
Kali the witch. Kali who wears a belt of men’s skulls. As the wedding
drums draw close, where does Leela end…and Kali begin?
Revealing the challenge that each characters colour presents to members of there own community, the play explores how skin colour prejudice is more than an issue of Black/White racism. As an indicator of identity, ethnicity and status within ones own community, Shades of Brown exposes the deep-rooted contradictions and trauma involved when an individual has too much or too little skin pigment. Each of the sympathetic and vibrant monologues portrays the pain of rejection, feelings of self-hatred and the oppression engendered when ethnicity is doubted and identity lost as skin colour vanishes.
As Rani transforms into each of the three characters she also reflects on the West’s obsession with the tanning studio, and what skin colour meant to her as she grew up in Malaysia.
Dark skin…bad luck…
When Rani Moorthy was 5 years old her grandmother told her “You are dark skinned like me…what bad luck, you better be good at something or you will be ostracised like the Goddess Kali”.
Shades of Brown is inspired by Rani’s struggle with skin colour related racism within her own community. From childhood she was aware of certain imponderables in life such as divisions of caste and class, and ugliest of all, the pain of growing up dark-skinned in a Malaysian Tamil culture that valued light skin.
Almost all indigenous literature and mythology within Rani’s Malaysian upbringing referred to the beauty of fair skin. Dark skinned people were never mentioned or shown as oppressed, ostracised or demonised. From Hindu myths to Chinese pillow books, from the Karma Sutra to Tantric rituals, there was a blatant message about skin colour. And this within the larger context of the colonial legacy and power exemplified by white versus black.
Living in the West for the last ten years Rani has observed that those with naturally light (white) skin want brown skin, while in Asia women bleach their skin. In both cases shirking the possible long-term harm they could be doing to their health.
Inevitably skin colour is related to race and ethnicity and when Rani stumbled upon a documentary on vitiligo, a skin condition where a brown skinned person was losing her skin colour and becoming white, she wanted to explore this painful process. This woman’s pain in losing her brownness was almost as intense as Rani’s from all those years growing up yearning for fairer skin.
The Press on Shades of Brown
“An incomparable story teller…Moorthy is so sumptuously watchable that its easy to forget there is only one of her on stage” **** The Guardian
“Considerable serious intent…[but] pretty entertaining too, thanks to the charismatic performance” **** Manchester Evening News
“A piece of intelligent, engaging and provocative theatre. Frequently comedic and endearing, at times deeply moving and uncomfortable, its central message lingers long after the curtain.” The British Theatre Guide
“Rani Moorthy's amazing performance lit up the stage with her thought evoking, bold characters, engaging the audience through there every move, thought and emotion.” Eastern Voice
“Highly distinctive characters, believable stories and well-written dialogue…Whether you are black, white – or any shade in between – this play will certainly hold your attention and challenge you to reconsider your ideologies.” DrDesi.com
