Mahlon Joseph Bourgeois
July 7, 2009
Ronnie Jerome Labit
July 9, 2009
Nicholls State University theater student Tawanna Moore is set to premiere her first gospel stage play, “You Can’t Tell ‘Em Everything,” at the university’s Talbot Theater this weekend.
The play will be presented on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Sunday’s matinee starts at 5 p.m., with doors opening at 4:15 p.m. Admission is $12.
The musical play revolves around the life of Janet Tilley, a successful lawyer, and her struggles with God.
Moore said though the young lawyer grew up in a Christian household, she chooses not to believe in God.
“She feels that God took her mother away from spending time with her because she devoted so much time at church,” Moore said.
What Tilley does not realize is that her mother devoted so much time to church because before she was converted, she was attacked and raped in front of her 6-year-old son.
Moore said Tilley is a product of that rape, which becomes evident as the play develops.
As the plot thickens, the young lawyer still does not understand the things her mom went through.
Therefore, she ends up facing some of the same trials and tribulations.
Moore, an avid writer, penned the story as a much shorter piece. But she said it soon took on more plots and became bigger than she imagined.
“I just started writing,” she said. “When I thought I was at a stopping point I added more.”
The 30-year-old writer said her passion comes from watching her grandmother create skits for church.
“Even though she couldn’t read or write, she was so creative,” Moore said. “That was part of it, why I wanted to become a writer.”
Another aspect of Moore’s writing is her own life. With the passing of her mother when she was 2, Moore was forced to live with her father and stepmother.
Once her father died when she was 8, her stepmother, who was abusive emotionally and physically, cared for Moore, she said.
As a way to escape, Moore said she used her imagination to travel to unknown places.
She said, “I remember drawing a teardrop on a piece of paper and titling it ‘The Tears of My Six Years.’ I knew then I was destined to be a writer.”
Moore said premiering the production came in the knick of time. Though it’s not a Nicholls production, it includes three Nicholls students in the cast.
After its premiere, Moore will use the piece for an internship with a production company.
It is her hope that the piece will be taken on the road by the production company.
