After Delores Burgess, the owner and creative director of the Brio Theater in Tucker, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, she knew she wanted to become a face for other Black women who had been diagnosed with the disease.
“The statistics among African-American women were pretty dreadful,” Burgess told Rough Draft. “So, I knew being a face that looks like someone else who might be falling into that statistic was a source of hope and inspiration, and it really helps not only the person who’s diagnosed, but the family and the community that’s impacted by the diagnosis.”
African-American women diagnosed with breast cancer experience a 40% mortality rate, the highest of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S.
Three years after the diagnosis, Burgess began writing her one-woman show, “Fighting for the Title,” to detail her cancer journey for other women facing the same disease.
Twenty-three years later, Burgess is a three-time breast cancer “conqueror” and is staging her show at the Brio Theater. “Fighting For the Title” has changed since it was first performed in 2008, with her subsequent diagnoses in 2009 and 2019 informing the newest version, which comes to the stage on Sept. 25.
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In the show, Burgess plays multiple roles – herself at five years old, her family members, her medical professionals – and integrates her talents as a gospel singer, dancer, and actor to detail the realities of a three-time diagnosis.
“[The show] represents my weak moments,” she said. “It represents the bad and the ugly. It’s not just the ‘hallelujah wonderful victory’ part.”
“Fighting for the Title” will be staged at the Brio Theater the weekends of Sept. 25-27 and Oct. 2-4. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased on the Brio’s website.
