ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Where did you get the idea forEclipsed?
DANAI GURIRA: I read a newspaper article in 2003 about Black Diamond, a revered rebel soldier.
I found her fascinating.
Credit: RICHARD PHIBBS for EW
LUPITA NYONGO: What I love about Danais play is that it invites you in.
You learn something very deep.
Youre shocked, your mind is open, and your heart is broken.
Where you may have known facts, now you have feelings.
When did you two first meet?
NYONGO: At the Obie Awards in 2007.
Shes an African artist so I was aware of her and had seen her work inThe Visitor.
GURIRA: [Laughs] To encourage her to make the right choice.
But we knew we were in trouble, and Yale won.
Then I arrive from Kenya and I get this incredible, groundbreaking Liberian play.
It was manna from heaven!
I made a promise to myself: I have to do this play one day.
So how did the 2015 run at the Public Theater come together?
GURIRA: Lupita emailed me and said, Lets do this.
I was like, Uh, of course!
NYONGO: Every time I saw her Id say, I want to do Eclipsed!
How has the play evolved as its moved from Off Broadway?
This is like a mountain to climb every night.
But we know the mountain and its allowed us to find new natural and surprising things.
GURIRA: I feel a great comfort hearing that.
The playwright has to step away you want to see it fly on its own.
I cant always be in the room with them.
NYONGO: You did the foundational work, and we always have that.
So youre always in the room.
GURIRA: Thats so sweet, Lupita.
We genuinely like each other, which helps.
This is the kind of play where you need a sisterhood.
GURIRA: Oh, for sure.
Like the scene where Lupita gets her ass kicked?
[Laughs] Theres an insane amount of trust involved because it really is like flying without a net.
Thats because theres such a sisterhood.
GURIRA: Its crazy, right?
It shouldnt be an event.
We should have far more of this scenario on Broadway.
Lupita, now that you are actually playing this part, is it everything you thought it would be?
In our first read-through before the Public run I thought, What did I do?
[Laughs]
GURIRA: I remember that you were like, Whoa.
Because youre stepping into the unknown.
So to have this opportunity and to do this with women I deeply respect has been invaluable.
Oooh, do I feel challenged [laughs] every day….
But its a joyful toll.
This article appears in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands now (orbuy it here).
