Photo: Dixon Photography
She was a teacher at heart, and the lesson she taught an entire country was to live up to its stated ideals. Now her story is playing out on an Upper West Side stage every Monday night through early December.
Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed & Unbowed, a one-woman play written and performed by award-winning actress Ingrid Griffith, debuted on November 2 and is running at the West End Theatre on West 86th Street through December 7.
The Brooklyn-born daughter of Caribbean parents, Chisholm spent part of her childhood in Barbados during the Great Depression and went on to become the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. Already dubbed the “Black Joan of Arc,” she made her famous 1972 presidential run as the first African American to seek a major party’s nomination.
Chisholm led rather than followed. She built coalitions, broke down structures that didn’t serve her constituents, and delivered her message with clarity and power, backed by a personal brand that extended to her dress and overall style. She taught her followers how, where and when to fight, and she taught everyone that the fight is never over.
Don’t expect a dry history lesson. Griffith captures Chisholm’s electric personality and warrior spirit in an immersive, interactive solo show that follows her as she goes toe-to-toe with the boys-only political machines in Brooklyn, the New York State Assembly and Congress. It’s the story of a woman who famously said, “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.”
Through storytelling, music, visuals and character portrayals, the play moves through segregation in America, the mass migration of Black Americans from the South to the North, the Civil Rights era, the unrest of the 1960s and the patriarchal system Chisholm challenged, themes that still resonate today. The show aims to inspire the disenfranchised and to connect current and future generations to a woman who fought for change and won.
Griffith wrote the play to raise awareness of Chisholm’s groundbreaking contributions and to highlight how relevant her voice remains today. It earned her the Outstanding Playwriting That Inspires Social Change Award at the Conch Shell Productions ‘Hear Her Call Caribbean American Women’s Theater Festival’ in March 2020. She’s appeared in numerous off-Broadway productions across the city, with roles including Mrs. Muller in Doubt, the title role in Hedda Gabler and Mama Nadi in Ruined. From 2014 – 2020 she toured her internationally acclaimed solo show, Demerara Gold, about a young Guyanese girl’s immigrant journey.
Photo: Daniel Markham
Here are the details:
- Dates: Mondays, November 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, and December 7
- Run time: 80 minutes, no intermission
- Location: West End Theatre, 263 West 86th Street
- Tickets: $30, with discounts available
Tickets are available through Back Door Productions.
