For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide / When The Rainbow is Enuf

Ntozake Shange's brilliant choreopoem about women, about who they are and what they have experienced revived for it's 50 year anniversary. Avenue Blackbox Theatre in collaboration with North Star Players presents Ntozake Shange's brilliant choreopoem boldly sharing the stories of women -- who they are and what they have experienced as they live, learn and love. This Rochester revival directed by David Shakes hits The Avenue Blackbox stage in sync with it's 50 year Broadway anniversary. North Star Players originally staged the play in Rochester in 1983 at the Village Theater and later revived it with most of his original cast in 2018 at MuCCC Theatre. Eight years later it's back at The Ave and we can't wait for you to see what we've done with it! Don't miss it! About the play for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf is a choreopoem by Ntozake Shange. Premiering in 1976 in Berkeley, California, for colored girls… was Ntozake’s first and most widely produced work. The poem follows seven nameless woman through a world of racism, oppression, and sexism. These women of color are named after the colors of the rainbow: Lady in Red, Lady in Blue, Lady in Purple, Lady in Yellow, Lady in Brown, Lady in Green, and Lady in Orange. They tell their stories and the stories of other women they know through poetry, music, and dance. It is a piece that flows effortlessly from one story into the next, never really taking a moment to breathe. The women often help each other tell their stories by acting as a chorus or stepping into the shoes of another character. for colored girls… became a revolution for actresses of color and made its way from a tiny theater in Berkeley to New York City where it became the second play by a black woman to reach Broadway. The 20 poems that make up the piece are complex, rhythmic, delicate, rough, violent, and fragile. The physicality and rhythm are just as vital to understanding what the women are going through as the words they speak. source: stage agent About the playwright Ntozake Shange, a trailblazing African American playwright, poet, and novelist, holds immense historical and cultural significance in the realms of literature, feminism, and social activism. Through her groundbreaking work, she challenged conventional artistic norms and amplified the voices of Black women in America. Born Paulette Williams, Shange took her African name, which means “she who comes with her own things” and she “who walks like a lion,” in the mid-Seventies. She left an extensive body of work, including 15 plays, 20 poetry collections, seven novels, five children’s books, three collections of essays, and two works published posthumously, including a volume of her unpublished works. Shange revolutionized theater with her seminal work, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. Opening on Broadway in September 1976, the ‘choreopoem’, as Shange identified it, became the longest running Broadway play authored by an African American playwright and the choreopoem, as an art form, found a home in American theater. This powerful work interwove poetry, music, dance, and drama, offering an unapologetic portrayal of the struggles and triumphs of Black women. It brought to light the unique intersectionality of race, gender, and identity, resonating with audiences and paving the way for a new wave of feminist artistry.