Nina Simone: Four Women

Southwest Arts Center
915 New Hope Road Atlanta, GA 30331

"Four Women" is one of the most blistering works by artist-activist Nina Simone -- a musical indictment of racial prejudice and attitudes as explored through the experiences of four black women. In Christina Ham's play with music Nina Simone: Four Women, the subjects of Simone's song -- Aunt Sarah, Saffronia, Sweet Thing and Peaches -- are introduced as women Simone met at the site of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, prompting conversations about how their lives have been changed by the hue of their skin. Featuring some of Simone's most popular Civil Rights-era anthems such as "Mississippi Goddam," "Go Limp," and "Young, Gifted, and Black," this production at Atlanta's Southwest Arts Center is a portrait of an artist striving to enact change through her work.