All 25 shows of Tammi Mac’s Bag Lady have been sold out in the Los Angeles market since the first show in 2014. From all of the chatter about this stage play, including being a 3 x NAACP Theatre Award Winner, I decided to check it out since it fits right in line with two of our four legacy foundation mission areas – Health (Mental) and The Arts.
Bag Lady exposes the baggage of a woman who is weighed down heavily by her choices in men. We witness her accumulate a bag full of issues that include, the drug game, baby mamma drama and a life altering encounter with the award winning rap group N.W.A..
Without a doubt, this a show you do not want to miss. It starts with a subject matter that is often swept under the rug – childhood sexual abuse by a family member and continues where each relationship from that point on is somehow affected by it. From each storyline, you can hear the messages of ‘I’m just damaged goods’ and ‘I like the way it feels… regardless of how dysfunctional it is’.
Tammi Mac gives the audience a great show. She brings out the whole gammut of entertainment. As she rises above the bags and drop them all, Tammi gives us a first hand look of her past experiences and past relationships. For the next hour and a half, Tammi captured each relationship story she told with videos, music, and costumes – to name a few. She stripped down, changed characters, went off script, danced, sang songs, and interacted with the audience with a host of questions. There wasn’t a dull moment… she kept us all engaged.
But above all of that, Tammi’s performance was moving. As I sat there, I looked amongst the crowd and all I saw were faces in deep concentration, listening to her every word and wondering what was going to happen next. There was plenty of laughter… both by Tammi and the audience, anger, and yes, tears that welled up in many of our eyes.
Again, Tammi Mac’s Bag Lady is worth seeing… and staying afterwards for her T.A.M. (Triggering Audacious Movements) Talks was just as insightful. With a panel of 4 (Dr. Gloria Morrow (Clinical Psychologist), Precious A. Jackson (Author/Motivational Speaker), Nkem Ndefo (Certified Registered Nurse and Nurse Midwife) and Tammi Mac), the women addressed the sexual abuse topic and the audience (both men and women ) responded with personal stories of sexual abuse.
The sexual abuse experiences spoken by audience members was hard to listen to… but definitely was needed – for them and for others. From the discussion, comments that resonnated with me were that many survivors “freeze” after being violated and go into survival mode; that many survivors never tell their abuse stories to mother/family because they are afraid of rebuttal and disbelief; that there is a stigma of abused people not going for help; and despite it all, it is okay to get help, and to be courageous.
Without a doubt, healing is necessary for the survivors success in their current and future relationships. And too, I believe Tammi Mac’s Bag Lady and T.A.M. Talks tonight, helped contribute to it.
Fantastic show Tammi Mac! Blessings on your tour…
For more pictures, click here.
