Rose Ella Weaver joined Trinity Repertory Company in Providence as an acting fellow, working with Trinity for 22 seasons. She starred as Billie Holiday in Trinity’s – Lady Day. On television, Weaver had roles in The Brotherhood, In the Heat of the Night, Tales from the Crypt, The Young and the Restless, and L.A. Law. In film, she starred opposite Jodie Foster in The Accused and appeared in Poetic Justice opposite the late Tupac Shakur. Weaver received a Bachelor of Arts from Wheaton College, Master of Fine Arts from Brown University, Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Marymount Manhattan College, and Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from Providence College. She wrote Menopause Mama, a one-woman play with music that tells story of women and pro-aging; Skips in the Record about coping with Alzheimer’s disease, which was awarded Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Playwriting; and Silhouette of a Silhouette, based on death of one of her brothers. Weaver has entertained audiences for more than 40 years in theatre, television, film and music.
photo by Agapao Productions
For me, standing up for equity in our community is expressed through the creative work I write and perform. You see, I’ve walked in the shoes of hundreds of people over my forty-three years in the performing arts. Black people, white, rich, poor, young, old, people out of their minds with grief and stress and those wiser than I…. all have been inside my soul and I inside them. So in studying and portraying the psychological, social, and physical essence of people, I have seen how important character is to our development and survival. I’ve seen how important art is to strengthening community. Theatre gives us a different way of seeing from what we are used to. It increases our empathy and our tolerance. I know it did for me because at one time I was a very bitter, narrow-minded and angry person because of racism.
Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” are words that I live by, teach and encourage through my writing, acting and singing.
I wrote my solo performance play, Menopause Mama, because I was sick and tired of anti-aging propaganda from Aristotle to beauty magazines dumping on girls and women. They were and still are telling us that aging is ugly and bad. Many women and men buy into that crock of crap thereby stunting their growth from an early age into self-loving, whole human beings. One of my characters states that, “Despite ridiculous taboos, Wise Women tried to instill in girls a sense of self-respect and love – a love for their youth and a love for their old age… that in one fable from ancient days, bleeding was blamed on Eve. Blamed! Says that Eve beguiled Adam into having sex, and for that “sin” women were afflicted with bleeding for thirty to forty years of their lives … that woman is filled with evil spirits when the blood comes down … that menstruation is the work of the devil.” LOL! But it’s not funny.
Strengthening communities in my opinion means finding constructive ways to continuously enhance our people instead of tearing them down. Whether it be through life-long learning, (I received my Master of Fine Arts Degree when I was fifty), taking stock of where you are in the big picture of your community and improving yourself in all possible ways, treating everyone with equal respect, or going to the theatre to observe and learn.
We must not forget the past character of evil people who have destroyed our communities by pitting us against each other. We cannot dwell on them either. I show the difference through my art.
