| Plays
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 Even as a child in her native Barbados Cheryl Gittens-Jones wanted to be a writer. A victim of domestic violence, the young girl learned not to put much hope in her dreams. Although a student of high academic standing and an avid reader, she found it difficult to concentrate, and by the age of fifteen dropped out of school. Without the high school diploma needed for well-paying jobs, she fixed her eyes on the United States of America--"the land of the liberated." In 1987 Cheryl accepted a job as a nanny with a family in Canada. Her new position came with the guarantee of college classes in the evening after work. But overworked, unhappy, exhausted and not fulfilling her dreams of a college education she decided to illegally immigrate to the United States. Once in the USA, the young woman was faced with many challenges, the first being that of an illegal immigrant. She spent the majority of her seven years in New York City working in low paying ‘off-the-book’ jobs as a live-in housekeeper. Despite the difficulties Cheryl faced she completed her GED in 1989. Feeling a sense of power and accomplishment, her love of reading and of studying rekindled, she began to seek out new opportunities through higher education. Cheryl started working at the Art Students League in New York City as an Artist Model. There she began to open up and trust herself to make decisions about her life. She applied for a student visa but was forced to return home to receive the document. It was a risk, since her illegal status might prevent her from returning to the USA. However, she knew it was the right action to take in order to move her life forward in a more positive direction. In March 1993 she flew home, received her student visa, and returned to the United States. At last, as a legal International student, Cheryl began to implement her vision of the future. She began to write again, partly in an effort to heal from the traumas experienced in her life. Incorporating painting and drawing, Cheryl began to gain a sense of direction. In 1994 she enrolled at California University of Pennsylvania with the help of fellow artists from the Art Students League. By the end of her first semester she made the Dean's list. At the end of the school year Cheryl applied to Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts as a transfer student. In the fall of 1995 she began her program there as a Frances Perkins Scholar. Cheryl has experienced major setbacks and devastating loss; nevertheless, she has persevered. Her 32 year-old brother died of AIDS in 1997. His passing deeply impacted her life and brought about tremendous positive and lasting change. Overwhelmed by years of hard work and tragic events, Cheryl has struggled to bring about a sense of normalcy to her life. It was a trip to Senegal, West Africa, and the Slave Houses on Goree Island, which gave her renewed faith and hope. She knew in her heart her story could inspire and give hope to those in the world who lived through similar situations. As a result of losing her brother to such a devastating disease as well as dealing with the stigma associated with it, Cheryl was further inspired to work on the semi-autobiographical play entitled SHADUHS UH VOODOO, published by One Act Play Depot, Saskatchewan, Canada. In May 1999 she graduated from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts. She has gained recognition in Who's Who in American Colleges, USA Today’s All-USA College Academic Team 1996 and 1997, gained a Phi Beta Kappa award for her sculpture, a Mount Holyoke research grant to Senegal, West Africa, and a Word James Baldwin Playwriting prize for her play Shaduhs Uh Voodoo awarded by Faculty Five College Inc at Amherst Massachusetts. The play was presented to the Five College area as a result of the award in 1998. It had a previous reading in 1996. The work was produced at Mount Holyoke College as her final project for graduation March 1999. She has done interviews in connection with Shaduhs Uh Voodoo on All Things Considered (NPR), in the Boston Globe, the Axis Online Hampshire Gazette and WMUA UMASS Radio in Massachusetts, the Sunday Sun newspaper in Barbados, and made a guest appearance on the talk show T. P Parked on CBC (the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation) in Barbados. Cheryl is now 44 years of age, a full-time mom and a legal resident of USA. She resided in Tokyo, Japan with her husband Keith and their 6 year-old daughter Amaranthia Sepia from September 2004 to September 2006. In Japan she modeled for commercials and print advertisements during her spare time. Cheryl finds time to write late at night and is working on a compilation of personal essays entitled "In Spite of Myself". She hopes to beging work on another play, based on her experience in Japan, sometime this year. A devout Buddhist, she finds balance and centeredness in her faith, which she tries to reflect in her daily life and in all of her works. She hopes one day to contribute, in some way, towards world peace, via her writing and art. |