A few weeks ago I met with Kadijah Ali-Coleman at the At Play Cafe(the greatest place on earth) in Reston. Like most women who make motherhood the center of their worlds, our kids were with us and our conversation was punctuated with boo boos to be kissed, bellies to be filled and trips to the potty. Despite the distraction I was able to find out a lot about this remarkable woman and her latest project, Running: AMOK which will be playing at this year’s DC Fringe Fest.
Ms Ali-Coleman is a bit of a Renaissance woman and after about 20 minutes of conversation I found myself asking, "How many jobs do you have?" As a musician, actress, playwright, director, mentor, event promoter and coordinator and educator she is busy to say the least, but working a conventional job and having her time belong to someone else just never appealed to her so she has found ways to make her living the way so many other mothers have when corporate America makes things too difficult.
This latest project seems as all inclusive and diversified as is Kadijah herself. It highlights the transition from working woman with time to think and process to mother with a newborn and no time to shower much less think. The story of new motherhood is told through three women who are professional and independent, they come from different backgrounds and have different experiences but all feel overwhelmed with motherhood and inadequate to its demands (sound familiar anyone?). The fact that so many of us can relate to this is one of the reasons Ms. Ali-Coleman wanted to make this play. She wanted to encourage women who will, are or already have gone through that transition and let them know that there is no text book for this, there are many ways of handling new motherhood and "each story is unique." As one character in the play states, "The answers are in yourself."
The show is a musical which reflects both Ms. Ali-Coleman's own background as a musician, performer and songwriter as well as her goal to make this play friendly to someone who may not be part of the traditional theater crowd. "Song can capture and entertain" in ways that dialogue can't and can bring in the non-traditional viewer.
With themes that range from the value of inter-generational motherhood to the courage that motherhood requires the play offers a wide range of experiences to educate us on the diversity of experiences that mothers feel and to "offer insights from the other side" of the parenthood divide.
Mainly Ms. Ali-Coleman wanted to let women know that "your life does not have to end" once you become a mother. You can change your life to reflect your new priorities, she want's "women to realize that we have that power." As we ended our meeting Kadijah told me that she wanted the audience to "be prepared to look at the idea of parenting in a new and refreshing way."
See the image at the top for show times and locations. I plan to leave the kids with my Dilbert, pick up my best mommy friend and make a trip to the big city just to see this. I suggest you do the same and I hope to see you there!
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