‘Belly: An American Love Story,’ was written and is being produced by West Hartford resident Haile Eshe Cole.

Submitted

After a succession of staged readings in New York City, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, “Belly: An American Love Story,” a choreopoem, is scheduled to debut its first fully-staged production at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) from Aug. 1-3, 2025.

Written by playwright, producer, CCSU professor and anthropologist, Dr. Haile Eshe Cole, Belly travels across time to tell the stories of Black women’s experiences of reproduction past, present and future. It is an intergenerational voyage of Black woman/motherhood, transpiring through the mediums of word, song, and dance and is based on ethnographic interviews and research conducted by Cole with Black women in Texas.

“Belly came about for me as I was trying to write about my research in the traditional academic way but it just didn’t feel right,” says Cole. “That approach felt suffocating and it did not do justice to my story and the women’s stories in my community.”

The purpose of anthropology is to study, document, and report out on the experiences of humanity captured during the research process. The stories shared with research participants needed to live outside of the Ivory Tower, hence why Cole chose to write a play. “Instead, I wanted to create something that could capture the nuances of Black womanhood and motherhood across time – the history, the joy, and the pain,” Cole continues. “Art was the only thing that made sense to me. It was the only container that fit.”

Inspired by Ntozake Shange’s work for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, the work is written for a small, six-member cast and is structured as a choreopoem in three parts. Directed by Jalissa Fulton (New York, NY) the cast includes Jan Andree, Stephanie Anuwe, Aziza John (Brooklyn, NY), Brianna Johnson (NewYork, NY), Ebonie Marie and Aamahri Nicholson (New York, NY; CT).

It begins by looking back at the histories and context of Black women’s reproduction as experienced through the transatlantic slave trade. It continues by exploring intersecting themes such as pregnancy and birth, maternal health disparities, loss and various other facets, both good and challenging, of Black women and mother’s experiences. Finally, Belly ponders the idea of liberation and justice as the characters dream radically about the future and world that they would like to see for themselves, their families, and communities. In the end, the central theme arising from the work is love.

While it highlights the complicated histories and current challenges experienced by Black women/mothers in the United States, it also centers the legacies of love, care work, support and resistance employed by Black women in order to survive.

Performances of Belly are scheduled for Friday, Aug. 1 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Aug. 2 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday, Aug. 3 at 4 p.m. at the Black Box Theater, James J. Maloney Hall, Central Connecticut State University (1615 Stanley Street) in New Britain, CT. James J. Maloney Hall is located at the intersection of Stanley Street and Ella Grasso Boulevard. Parking is available adjacent to the building. A talkback will follow Sunday’s performance and will be facilitated by Dr. Nicole Young-Martin, Belly’s associate producer and producer and host of the award-winning podcast, Black Writers Read. Tickets are $15 and seating is general admission. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: https://hailecole.com/belly-a-choreopoem/.

“Belly: An American Love Story,” a choreopoem, is an independently-produced theatre project Please contact Cole at [email protected] for more information on attaining the rights to produce this play.

Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.