GEMS Theatre Productions would be hosting, Guyanese-American actress, Ingrid Griffith, in Guyana on Friday April 29, at the Theatre Guild, Playhouse, Kingston, in Shirley Chisholm’s life story “Unbossed & Unbowed”.

Griffith, the solo show artist, writer and actor, likes to travel. As an actor, she likes playing different roles and she is excited to be doing both very soon in Guyana.

Unbossed & Unbowed is about the life and times of the political trailblazer and social justice activist, Shirley Chisholm.

According to a release, the idea of telling this story came to Griffith while she was touring Demerara Gold, her solo show about a Guyanese girl’s immigrant experience that was produced in Guyana in 2015.

“At first, I knew very little about Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for President of the United States,” said Griffith, who added: “It was sheer curiosity that got me started.”

Six years later, Shirley is ready to speak to local souls and the audience will get to see her family’s circumstances and the system in place to prevent Shirley, a Black girl from Brooklyn and a daughter of immigrant parents, from rising, the release said.

Ingrid’s solo show, Demerara Gold, was similar. She felt the story was begging to be told. And now that she has done over one hundred performances, Ingrid beams about how transformational the entire experience has been for her.

“I remember the struggle within to rehash instances in my life I had pushed deep down. But
the painful parts were important to reveal. I didn’t have to change my feelings about what I had experienced and it was not about judging anyone, it was owning my truth. And that I shared it, led to a fuller understanding of myself. It also confirmed for me the amazing power of theatre,” said Griffith.

Demerara Gold, the solo show had the same effect on audiences. Griffith recalled audience members
lingering after the shows to tell her how much of her story was theirs.

“It’s the catharsis that we all experience as theatre goers. In Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed & Unbowed, Ingrid Griffith portrays Shirley St. Hill as the 10-year-old through adulthood. The other characters you’ll meet are Shirley’s Guyanese father, Charles St. Hill, from Linden, her Barbadian mother, Ruby Seale, Shirley’s school teacher, college professor, husband, TV anchors, news reporters, and local and national leaders from the 1960s and ’70s. Another Guyanese emigrant in Unbossed & Unbowed is Wesley McDonald Holder who was known as Dean of Black Brooklyn politics,” the release said.

Griffith has performed Shirley Chisholm: Unbossed & Unbowed, at a number of theatres in NYC and Georgia, plus many virtual showings.

While in Guyana she will be conducting workshops for students of the drama school and UG.

Tickets are $3,000 and would be available at Survival Supermarket from Tuesday 19, April. Group books can be made via Whatsup number 6248694 or call to 2253557. Visit: unbossedunbowed.com