Local actress Niashanti Bailey beat out the competition at Spelman College recently to win the role of ?Ava? in ?Late Bus to Mecca?.

Last seen in Bermuda in the one-woman summer prodiction ?Sia Says?, Miss Bailey told she feels she is really blossoming as an actress and the role of Ava gave her a wonderful opportunity to stretch.

Pearl Cleage?s ?Late Bus to Mecca? is all about Ava ? who is going to Atlanta looking for a better life. In the 1970s, Atlanta was known as the ?Black Mecca?, as black people were believed to live really well there.

The play is set at a Greyhound bus station, in Detroit, and the bus to Atlanta (Mecca) is late, starting the action of the show.

As the lead character Ava, Miss Bailey said she shared the stage with another young woman in a unique way.

?There were in fact two women, myself and Kadija Johnson,? she said. ?The uniqueness of the show is that my character did all the talking while the other woman was completely silent throughout the piece, although her presence was necessary and effective.?

Miss Bailey?s character,Ava Gardner Johnson, is a sometime prostitute while the other character is defined only as ABW (a black woman) waiting for a bus to Atlanta just before the Muhammad Ali-Jerry Quarry fight in 1970

?Ava has been a pro since she was very young, and a pimp named Tony hooked her up with another shady lady named Sherry,? Miss Bailey said of her character. ?Ava?s trying to make the practical best of bad luck, seeing as how the only job for a black woman is ?slinging pussy or frying hair?, and she?s hoping to make enough money in Atlanta to open a beauty salon.

?Ava meets up with ABW while waiting for Sherry at the Greyhound bus station.

?ABW obviously is mentally disturbed, but never says a word, and Ava struggles to connect with her through a running monologue about make-up, business, pleasure, men and food. It?s a genuinely funny, poignant piece and Ava is a very believable hunk of a woman?s woman.?

The play is thought-provoking and often funny but not without its challenges, she added.

?The play is not for everyone as it does include graphic content and language, both of which are relevant to the character that I play and her situation.

?So, for people that can?t handle ?just a little heaviness? for about an hour, I wouldn?t recommend it to them. The piece is fun and has proven so, based on the nine shows that we performed. It also has the potential to do different things to different audiences.

?Some nights the audience thought it was hilarious, while other nights the audience just sat back and took it all in, in a reflective kind of way.?

For the play to work well, the audience must connect with Ava.

?As an actress, it is my responsibility to respect the character I?m portraying, step out of myself for a minute and play it to the best of my ability, and I take the charge seriously,? said Miss Bailey. ?I think that the play is good if you can get past the language and content, and look at the messages that the show has to offer because there are some important lessons to learn from the piece.?

The actress said playing ?Sia? this summer in Bermuda helped give her the courage to pursue the demanding role. ?I honestly and whole-heartedly believe that everything happens for a reason, and nothing happens until its time and I live by these quotes everyday of my life.

?In this case, I refer to do doing ?Sia Says? last summer and how that experience of having to hold down a stage on my own prepared me for this show on an international level, away from family and friends who are going to support me whether I do well or not.

?So I was nervous in the sense that I had to prove myself to a group of strangers, some of whom had never seen me perform.?

Miss Bailey also had to tone down her Bermudian accent to make ?Ava? believable as an American from Detriot.

?I give thanks to Brandon Dirden for his help and guidance,? she said. ?This is a tool that I can use in the future, which would make me more marketable for other roles.

The training didn?t rid me of my Bermudian accent, but I now have the choice to use it or not if I want to, although I am still working on the reduction skills.?

Playing off another, wholly silent character also had it frustrations, she added.

?This was really difficult to do because sometimes I wanted to burst out laughing.

?Having to hold up a conversation and interact with a speechless woman was sometimes frustrating because she wasn?t as responsive as I wanted, but I found myself just talking to hear myself at some points because my character can?t stand silence and doesn?t know how to shut-up.?

The play ran at Spelman a few weeks ago and Miss Bailey said she was delighted to win the role.

?Being chosen for this role out of several other women was truly an honour,? she said.

?It kind of gives me a feeling like ?wow, someone thinks that I am good enough to hold it down?.

?It has definitely taken my campus and international exposure to another level and proven my dedication to performance and the arts!

?Although it?s fun and I love it, it?s really not as easy as some people think. This show was a little more of a challenge because I had to remember my lines, know my cue changes, be conscious of my accent, depend on myself for what scene comes next, as there were 13 scenes.

?I had approximately ten seconds to prepare between each scene.

?Pace myself, so I didn?t pass out. And the biggest challenge was performing in such a small theatre.

?The setting was so intimate that I could touch each audience member if I wanted to ? that?s how personal the space was so they could see every facial expression and it was hard not to make eye contact with them.?