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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.
Still, Shange's work remains as riveting as it was in 1976. Her words have become more than the unspoken and unrealized accounts of Black women's pain and promise; they have evolved into the gift of permission to heal and the agency to be seen and understood. It has become a memo to Black women to embrace their femaleness (no matter what that looks like) while looking to the rainbow as a sign of hope for the future of the collective, because they alone are enough.
This version of for colored girls truly does feel like a choreopoem, Shange's term for her amalgamation of words, motion and music. (The percussive original score is by Martha Redbone and Aaron Whitby). The seven women on stage are barefoot, and their movement-which draws on African-American traditions including juba, stepping and social dance-feels organic, natural and triumphant. 'Sechita,' performed and signed by Lady in Purple (the amazing Alexandria Wailes) and spoken by Lady in Orange (Amara Granderson), conjures a seductive Creole carnival worker dancing for dust-covered rednecks; we can almost see this mythical woman 'catchin stars tween her toes.'
| 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 |
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