Captivating, empowering and appropriately uncomfortable, “Nina Simone: Four Women” delivered a message I think everyone should hear this Black History Month.
It’s really a message that should be heard year-round, but the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) offers Hoosiers the chance to see it onstage Feb. 4-March 2. Written by award-winning playwright Christiana Ham and directed by Austene Van, “Nina Simone: Four Women” is a play with music that imagines a conversation between Simone and three other Black women.
The show begins in Simone’s living room, with the artist hard at work on a song meant to spark a revolution following the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama — which took the lives of four innocent young girls on Sept. 15, 1963. Simone (Akili Ni Mali) is working tirelessly on what would eventually become “Mississippi Goddamn” while combating grief and anger.
Simone is then transported (through the magic of theater) to the ruins of the 16th Street Baptist Church, where she meets the other three women who inspired the song “Four Women”: Sarah (Jamecia Bennett), Sephronia (Aeriel Williams) and Sweet Thing (Precious Omigie).
These women inspire hope, spark conflict and encourage resilience, fueling Simone’s passion to finish her song. The four women behind the four women are shining stars of passion and talent, and I was captivated by them in each and every second onstage.
The play uses an amalgamation of African spirituals, gospel, original music and lyrics as well as the late Simon’s music to paint the picture of a story an imagined scene from the behind the scenes of Simone’s life, her struggle and her passion for using her voice as a form of activism.
It’s a remarkable thing, what happened in the theater when Sarah (Bennett) started singing “His Eye is on the Sparrow.”
I’ve never experienced anything like it in a theater before and I probably never will again. We were in church, literally because the set is designed to look like a church — devastated and broken after a bombing, sure, but a church nonetheless — and spiritually.
It’s hard to explain to those who don’t get it — and there were a few people in the audience who didn’t. Music connects us in a profound way. Church is a focal point of much of our community. Live theater gives us a safe space to explore feelings of joy, pain, loss and hope. All of these came together to create a moment suspended in time.
Throughout the rest of the show, music is used to communicate the hardships faced by each of the women during the Civil Rights Movement, including dealing with racial stereotypes, colorism and ageism from their own communities. With the aid of Morgan E. Stevenson on piano and drums, songs like “Old Jim Crow,” “Everything Must Change,” “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black,” and “Shout: Oh Mary” help these women find common ground — not just in their place within the movement, but in their own identities as Black women.
The show ends with “Four Women” in a profound declaration of acceptance that was greeted with a roaring standing ovation from an audience who got it; who hopefully resonated with the message of resilience.
“Nina Simone: Four Women” is just under two hours with no intermission, but it’s likely the most profound piece of theater I’ve ever seen and will be hard to top as my favorite show of 2025.
Viewer discretion is advised as the show contains profanity, blasphemy and antiquated/racially charged language; songs and dialogue inferring sexual violence; sounds and imagery of 16th Street Baptist Church bombing; fog and haze. It is recommended for audiences 9th grade and above.
Tickets start at $25. For a full performance schedule and programing, visit irtlive.com.
*Some versions of the show may feature PsyWrn Simone in the role of Nina Simone or Sarah.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
Chloe McGowan is the Arts & Culture Reporter for the Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Originally from Columbus, OH, Chloe graduated with a degree in journalism from The Ohio State University. She is a former IndyStar Pulliam Fellow, and her previous work includes freelancing for Indy Maven, Assistant Arts & Life Editor for The Lantern, and editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Chloe enjoys covering all things arts and culture — from local music, visual art, dance, theater and film, as well as minority-owned businesses. In her free time, Chloe enjoys reading, cooking and keeping her plants alive.
