Monday, March 18, 2024

Rain Pryor Talks Race, Richard Pryor and ‘Fried Chicken & Latkes’

rain_pryor*Although Rain Pryor is proud to be the daughter of legendary comedian/actor Richard Pryor, she endured many ups and downs as a result of that personal connection.

Nowadays, Rain is emerging out of her father’s shadow with her one-woman show, “Fried Chicken & Latkes.” The show, which has garnered raves, is playing at Harlem’s National Black Theater.

For Rain, “Fried Chicken & Latkes” is more about her view of the world as well as her life as a woman who grew up Black and Jewish, in addition to her family. Contrary to popular belief, being the offspring of a comedy legend didn’t result in a constant stream of acting roles for Rain, who confessed that things dried up after her time on the classic ABC sitcom “Head of the Class” in the late ’80s came to an end.

“I think as I got older, it was harder because I didn’t fit the mold of what was popular at the time,” Rain told RollingOut. “I didn’t look like Lisa Bonet, I didn’t look like Halle Berry. I looked like me. But ‘me’ wasn’t popular yet. Now, all of a sudden, my look — you see it all the time. It’s OK to be offbeat and different and still be considered beautiful instead of having to look like them to be beautiful.”

The professional drought eventually led to years of writing and revising “Fried Chicken & Latkes” for Rain, who used the project as a vehicle for letting folks know who she is. According to the entertainer, the play goes deeper than an examination of her as it highlights issues that are reflected in current day society.

“What the show is about is growing up Black and Jewish and a mirror reflection on today’s society and what’s still going on racially and politically,” said Rain . “If anything, it’s given me a platform to speak about the changes we need in the world. It’s so universal, it’s not just about me—that’s so boring. I don’t want this to just be about me!”

Collaborating on “Fried Chicken & Latkes” with Rain is Kamilah Forbes, who serves as the play’s director with experience working on theatrical productions such as “Holler If Ya Hear Me” and “A Raisin In the Sun.”

In addition to Forbes, another presence found in “Fried Chicken & Latkes” is Rain’s famous father. In her eyes, honoring the spirit and legacy of Richard Pryor, who died in 2008 after battling multiple sclerosis, is what Rain strives for her in work.

“I don’t know if it’s necessarily about coming to grips with it as much as it’s my obligation to honor him,” she shared.

With touching on her family and her biracial upbringing, Rain brings more of a personal touch to “Fried Chicken & Latkes” with highlighting her own voice while celebrating her own heritage.

“I think how [my background] has really informed [that] we’re in a process in the world where as a people—as black people—we have to kind of find our identity,” she expressed. “I say in the show, ‘we’ve gone from being n*ggers to negroes to black to African American to back to n*ggers again because half of us don’t know who we are.’ So in how it’s informed me is that we still have a lot of work that we need to do. Part of that is when I raise my conscious level to recognize that we are part of the human race and that my greatness stands on the shoulders of those who have come before me. When we know our history that’s when we avail ourselves to our true power.”

For more of Rain’s Rolling Out interview, click here.

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