NINA | Alabama Shakespeare Festival
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Nina Simone: Four Women:

Show guidelines

Through storytelling and song, this production celebrates how Nina Simone helped define the sound of the Civil Rights Movement. Featuring powerful anthems such as “Mississippi Goddam,” “Old Jim Crow,” and “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” Nina Simone: Four Women is a personal and provocative musical journey.

Language

  • Referencing the song, the phrase “Mississippi Goddam” is used throughout the script.
  • The words high-yella, yella, tar-baby, coon, monkey, jigaboo, Jemima, whore, hooker, and Injun are all used.

Sexual Innuendo

A character is referenced to as a hooker (prostitute).

Drugs & Alcohol

A character drinks from a flask (while pregnant).


Violence

  • As events from the Civil Rights Movement, bomb explosions, rioting, murder, rock throwing, being hosed down, and being beat are all referenced in the script.
  • Gunshots are referenced in the script.
  • A character carries a knife and threatens other characters with it.

Mature Content

  • This script deals with events that take place during the Civil Rights Movement, and that follow the bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL.
  • This script deals with a lot of racial tension, including among women of color.
  • Rape is referenced.