In Ntozake Shange's powerful mid-'70s "choreo-poem," a group of African-Americans dramatizes the struggles and journey toward self respect experienced by black women in America.
This revival of 'for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf' is one link in a chain of productions re-introducing the work of our titans - Alice Childress, Adrienne Kennedy and more - to modern audiences. Only Shange's work has been on Broadway before, first premiering at the Booth Theatre, where the revival is currently playing, in 1976. It remains a seminal, sacred text; one I've been able to recite phrases from for the better half of my life. This revival, by director and choreographer Camille A. Brown, is the most essential production of Shange's masterwork to date.
Yes, but Shange's 90-minute collection of poems performed by seven women, each in a designated color (Shange undoubtedly means the pun) returns the adjective to its high-wattage definition. Director-choreographer Camille A. Brown's production stuns the daylights out of you.
1976 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
1976 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
1976 | Broadway |
Broadway Transfer Broadway |
1979 | West End |
London Production West End |
1980 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
2000 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
2000 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
2019 | Off-Broadway |
Public Theater Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Videos