Valerie Orr-Jefferson will play the role of Katherine in Izola Bird’s upcoming production, “The Straw Women Who Made Bricks.” The play will be at the Indiana Historical Society at 7:30 p.m. June 18.
The Indianapolis Recorder talked with Orr-Jefferson before the play about her interpretation of Katherine, the play’s message and her feelings about the upcoming performance.
Recorder: What can you tell me about the play and how you got involved with it?
Orr-Jefferson: It’s been about three years and I went for an audition. I’d never heard of this play until a friend of mine was telling me about Izola (Bird) writing a play about struggling women. I know firsthand about how everyday women struggle. I got nerve and went for audition. I had first auditioned for a part of Allison, the young woman who got married and had problems in her marriage.
I read the script more, and I auditioned for the character named Katherine, the woman struggling with drugs. I immediately got that part. This woman has the desire of a mother and I’ve never had a mother. The part goes in and out of her life. The character of Katherine has problems with drugs and losing her self-esteem and losing the love and respect for people, and I really got close to that character and it became alive for me. I just love it.
That was three years ago. Is this the third time the play will be put on?
We live in South Bend and Izola has put the play on twice there, and now she wants to touch other people, touch other women and men and teach them about the goodness the blessings of God. It’s just a wonderful play. It’s like a dream come true.
People always keep their struggles hidden. This play exposes things, lets people think about their own lives, they think about the delivery. The things they can go through; they don’t have to struggle anymore. It’s a very good play to come and watch.
In the past times the play has been performed, what has the experience been like for you on stage?
It’s a breakthrough because not only am I playing a character, I also have a past history with this character. I do not have a mother. I am a child of a mother who used drugs. My mother gave me up for her addiction. Katherine talks about that, about her children. The experience has delivered me and helped me learn that not only did it happen to me, but there are other women out there who are using drugs, who have lost their children. It’s a deliverance message, because not only did Katherine do these things, she became a deliverer, she learned how to progress, and keep going and keep fighting, and the strength that the play shows in Katherine is just a climax that you would never think of.
We all have our struggles in life, and they’re all different. But for women and men, who may not have had the same struggles as Katherine, how can they still relate to her and what can they learn from her character?
The thing that is most important about Katherine is that she’s a fighter. We all have our problems. We all have our situations. But the moment you give up, the moment you throw in the towel, the moment you say, “I’m a failure, no one believes me, no one loves me, I only love myself, no one cares about me, I only care about the next person.” The moment you say these words out of your mouth, that’s allowing another atmosphere to come around you. You allow yourself to stop trying, you allow yourself to stop believing, you allow yourself to stop fighting. Katherine is a fighter. Katherine does not give up. Katherine does not say anything about “just throw in the towel, you don’t need a helping hand, who cares about you?”
Katherine is a person who is very, very strong in that area. She has her trials and tribulations. She’s gone through hardships, neglect, abuse – physically, mentally, sexually. She’s been abused for so many years but all the abuse and the turmoil she’s been through, Katherine never, ever gave up.
She always had a glimpse of hope for her mother, for her children, for herself. And the more that she struggled and the more that she kept going back to her addiction, she kept going in and out of the addiction, she kept fighting for that one thing, and that is loving God, loving something that is more powerful that herself. That’s something that people have to remember. No matter what situation they’re in or who they’re with or where they’re going, you can never give up. Never stop fighting.
What are your thoughts about the play that’s coming up – are you excited, nervous? What are you thinking?
Every time I come and do a performance, it’s another chance that my ministry comes out. Yes I have my own story to tell; I should write a book about it. But the more I play Katherine, the more I study her, the more I live her, the more I have another chance to save a soul, another chance for a woman to be delivered, a young woman, a young man, somebody out there is listening.
You may not get to but one person out of 400 or out of 1,000, but that’s still doing the work of your Father, and that to me is more valuable than any money.
If Izola chooses to write more plays in the future, do you hope to keep collaborating with her and being a part of her productions?
Yes I do. I believe in deliverance. I believe in setting people free. I believe in letting people know there is still hope. It doesn’t matter who you are or what color you are or what religion you are. If you do not give up on your dream, on your goal, then you will be successful. You will have peace of mind.
So yes, I believe in Izola’s writing. She’s here to do a deliverance for every color, for every age, for everything she’s been through. I think that what is missing now is young women and young men who are growing up in this generation have lost hope and respect for each other. As she (Izola) keeps growing and maturing in her writing and I keep maturing in my acting career, we’re hoping and praying there will be more than one play of deliverance.
Is there anything you’d like to say to people who are considering coming out to the play or people who are already planning to come?
I would like to invite anybody who is ready to have a good time, ready to laugh, ready to cry, ready to just take your cousins out, take your mama, take your father out, come on out. Have a good time.
Be prepared for the emotional part. Be prepared for the deliverance part. Be prepared for a huge outbreak of the straw women who made bricks, because we are coming and we’re coming strong. We mean business.
