Artists have a different way of addressing social matters depending on the format. Danielle Mone’ Truitt chooses acting as a way of dealing with issues. Her one woman show ‘3: Black Girl Blues’ touches on a number of concerns of Black women. Polite On Society had a chance to interview via e-mail a few days before the show opens.
POS:What brought you to acting?
DMT: I have always had a love for performing. I started singing when I was a small child. My first semester in college I took a theatre class just because I wanted to have some type of artistic outlet. After about 2 weeks my professor asked if I was a theatre major. At the time I was a psychology major. She encouraged me to audition for a play they were casting and asked me to consider changing my Major. After auditioning and being cast in that play I fell in love with Acting, and the theatrical process. I realized that acting was something I was good at and passionate about.
POS:What can viewers expect from “Black Girl Blues?
DMT: BLACK GIRL BLUES is actually the name of our series that will include 3 one woman shows. The first show in the series is “3”. “3” is a meditation on external behavior and the forces that cause us to come clean. The characters represent a lack of spiritual confidence that plagues the larger majority of people. These are women we went to school with, over-heard at bus stops, danced with at night clubs, talked to in passing, dated, drank with and held long term friendships. These are women who cashed in dignity for narcissism. Devoted energy to pain and disloyalty to love. Women who respond to vengeance, rumors, false prophets, pop culture, bad music, fast food, idolatry, street codes and Old Testament existentialism. These women are people we know – full of contradiction. The refusal to search for inner-self and the consequence of “worldly” pleasures. Viewers can expect to laugh, cry, be enraged, all the while loving these beautifully flawed women. They may even realize that they see aspects of themselves within them.
POS: Who has influenced you as an actor?
DMT: There are a lot of Actors that I admire. Actors who I think are great! A few I can name off the top of my head are Meryl Streep, Jeffery Wright, Viola Davis and Kate Blanchett. Also Actor/Director Roger Guenveur Smith (DOPE, AMERICAN GANGSTER, DO THE RIGHT THING). I had the pleasure of being directed by him in the West Coast Premiere of THE MOUNTAINTOP at San Diego Rep a couple years ago and I have to say that it was one of the best experiences of my career. He pushed me and made me think about acting in a way that I never imagined. I experienced a lot of growth. He is also an amazing Solo Performer. I’m also very influenced by real regular people. I watch them. I listen to them. Acting is about being
POS: What do you hope audiences take away from your show?
DMT: My hope is always that people would be moved by the story I am telling. That they would be transported for those 75 minutes, into the lives of 3 woman who are not so different that any of us. The series is called BLACK GIRL BLUES, but viewers will quickly see that these “blues” are universal. That we really aren’t that different at all. We all struggle. We all hurt. We all fail. The question is will you stay there? Or will you use all that you’ve experienced and been through to take you to a new place of understanding and enlightenment? The beautiful thing about this show is that it doesn’t tell you what to think or how to feel. It tells a story and allows the audience to feel whatever way they want to feel about what they are seeing. I truly believe that Theatre is a powerful vehicle that can be used to change peoples lives. Yes, it is great for entertainment, but if the audience leaves just a little different then when they came I will feel like my job as an Actor has been done.
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I’d like to thank Danielle for taking the time to reach out to us. If this show sounds interesting, there is more info available in the link above. As of this morning, I have learned that the 9pm showing on Sept. 23rd is sold out. However, there is still time to get tickets for the 7:30pm show.
However, there is still time to get tickets for the 7:30pm show.