For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Encyclopedia
Ntozake Shange
Ntozake Shange born October 18, 1948, is an American playwright, and poet. As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism....
. Initially staged in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, it has been performed Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, and adapted as a book, a television film, and a theatrical film. The 1977 Broadway production was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play
Tony Award for Best Play
The Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
.
Synopsis
Structurally, For Colored Girls is a series of 20 poems, collectively called a "choreopoem." Shange's poetry expresses the many struggles and obstacles that African-American women face throughout their lives. It is performed by a cast of seven women characters, each of whom is known only by a color: "Lady in Yellow," "Lady in Purple," etc. The poems deal with love, abandonment, rapeRape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, embodied by each woman's story, e.g. Lady in Blue's visceral account of a woman who chooses to have an abortion, and Lady in Red's tale of domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
. The end of the play brings together all of the women for "a laying on of hands," in which Shange evokes the power of womanhood as the Lady in Red begins the mantra "I found God in myself/and I loved her/I loved her fiercely."
Production history
First performed at the Bacchanal, a woman's bar outside of Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, it was first produced in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at Studio Riobea in 1975; produced Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
at the Anspacher Public Theatre in 1976; and produced on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
at the Booth Theatre
Booth Theatre
The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 222 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York City.Architect Henry B. Herts designed the Booth and its companion Shubert Theatre as a back-to-back pair sharing a Venetian Renaissance-style façade...
that same year.
According to Hilton Als in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
s "Critic's Notebook" of March 5, 2007, "...all sorts of people who might never have set foot in a Broadway house — black nationalist
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
s, feminist separatists
Separatist feminism
Separatist feminism is a form of radical feminism that holds that opposition to patriarchy is best done through focusing exclusively on women and girls...
— came to experience Shange's firebomb of a poem. [T]he disenfranchised heard a voice they could recognize, one that combined the trickster spirit of Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
with a kind of mournful blues."
The play was published as a book in 1977 by Macmillan Publishing, followed by a Literary Guild edition in October 1977 and Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
editions beginning in 1980. Segments from the play were performed in-studio on WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
's Say Brother
Basic Black
Basic Black is a weekly television series airing on WGBH in Boston. Originally known as Say Brother, the show was created in 1968 and aims to reflect the concerns and culture of African Americans through short-form documentaries, performances, and one-on-one conversations.Say Brother and Basic...
(now known as Basic Black) television series in December 1977, with actresses Paula Larke and Barbara Alston. A heavily edited version of the play was made into an American Playhouse
American Playhouse
American Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.It premiered on January 12, 1982 with The Shady Hill Kidnapping, written and narrated by John Cheever and directed by Paul Bogart...
TV movie in 1982 featuring Shange, actresses Laurie Carlos and Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winner Trazana Beverley
Trazana Beverley
Trazana Beverley is an American stage and film actress.She won a Tony Award for "Best Featured Actress in a Play" for the 1977 Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, having previously won a Theatre World Award for the Off-Broadway production. Beverley...
from the stage production, dancer Sarita Allen, and with early performances by Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard
Alfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Awards, 17 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.She is known for her role in films such as Cross Creek, Miss...
and Lynn Whitfield
Lynn Whitfield
Lynn Whitfield is an American actress.Whitfield began her acting career in television and theatre, before progressing to supporting roles in film. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special and a NAACP Image Award for her performance as Josephine Baker in the...
.
Off-Broadway
Awards- 1977 Theatre World AwardTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
- Trazana BeverleyTrazana BeverleyTrazana Beverley is an American stage and film actress.She won a Tony Award for "Best Featured Actress in a Play" for the 1977 Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf, having previously won a Theatre World Award for the Off-Broadway production. Beverley... - 1977 Obie AwardObie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
- Distinguished Production, Ntozake ShangeNtozake ShangeNtozake Shange born October 18, 1948, is an American playwright, and poet. As a self proclaimed black feminist, much of the content of her work addresses issues relating to race and feminism....
, Oz ScottOz ScottOsborne "Oz" E. Scott is an American screenwriter, television producer, film, television, and theatre director.-Career:Born in Hampton, Virginia, Scott attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and earned a MFA before he began his career in Washington D.C.'s Arena Stage. While at the Arena Stage, he...
and cast
Broadway
Awards- 1977 Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
Best Featured Actress in a Play - Trazana Beverley - 1977 Theatre World Award - Trazana Beverley
- 1977 Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
Outstanding Lighting Design - Jennifer TiptonJennifer TiptonJennifer Tipton is a lighting designer. She has designed for dance, theater and opera.In 1958, she graduated from Cornell University...
Nominations
- 1977 Tony Award for Best PlayTony Award for Best PlayThe Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
- 1977 Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
Outstanding Actress in a Play - Trazana Beverley - 1977 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Director of a Play - Oz Scott
- 1977 Drama Desk Award Unique Theatrical Experience
In addition to receiving several accolades, the play has been described as a landmark piece in African American literature
African American literature
African-American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of African descent. The genre traces its origins to the works of such late 18th century writers as Phillis Wheatley and Olaudah Equiano, reaching early high points with slave narratives and the Harlem...
and black feminism
Black feminism
Black feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably bound together. Forms of feminism that strive to overcome sexism and class oppression. The Combahee River Collective argued in 1974 that the liberation of black women entails freedom for all people, since it would...
.
Film adaptation
On March 25, 2009, the film industry magazine 'Variety reported that Nzingha Stewart, a black female director, had acquired the feature film rights to "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" from Shange and that Lionsgate had signed Stewart to create a screenplay adaptation and direct the film version of the play.Stewart, at Lionsgate's direction, approached Tyler Perry about producing the film. However, Perry told Lionsgate that if he produced it, he also wanted to write and direct it. Perry then usurped the project from Stewart and scrapped her script. The shift prompted controversy over whether Perry, panned for formulaic, low-brow productions had the skill and consciousness to properly depict an iconic feminist work. Perry allowed Stewart to remain on in the token position of executive producer of the film.
On September 3, 2009, Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
announced it had acquired the distribution rights to Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, playwright, entrepreneur, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman...
's 34th Street Films adaptation of the play, with principal photography originally scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
in November and December 2009. The film, which was retitled "For Colored Girls", was released on November 5, 2010 and was written, directed and produced by Perry. The cast includes Thandie Newton
Thandie Newton
Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
, Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine is an American stage, film and television actress known for her roles on Boston Public, Grey's Anatomy, and Eli Stone. She also provided her voice for the stop motion animated television series The PJs. Devine is a NAACP Image Award and Emmy award winning actress.-Early life:Devine...
, Kimberly Elise
Kimberly Elise
Kimberly Elise is an American film and television actress. She is best known for her role in the films Set It Off, Beloved, John Q, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and For Colored Girls...
, Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host.Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won...
, Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
, Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashād is an American Tony Award winning actress and singer, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
, Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose
Anika Noni Rose is an American singer and actress known for her Tony Award winning performance in the Broadway production of Caroline, or Change and her starring roles in the films Dreamgirls and The Princess and the Frog....
, Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington
Kerry Washington is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Ray Charles's wife, Della Bea Robinson, in the film Ray , as Idi Amin's wife Kay in The Last King of Scotland, and as Alicia Masters, love interest of Ben Grimm, The Thing, in the live-action Fantastic Four films of 2005 and 2007...
, Tessa Thompson
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for the role of Jackie Cook on the TV series Veronica Mars.-Personal life:...
, Michael Ealy
Michael Ealy
Michael Brown , professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor.-Personal life:Ealy was born in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended Springbrook High School and the University of Maryland, College Park.-Career:...
, Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
and Omari Hardwick
Omari Hardwick
Omari Lateef Hardwick is an American actor, known for his roles in the TV series Saved and Dark Blue, and in the movies Spike Lee's Miracle at St...
. Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
had also been cast, but pulled out in May 2010, citing medical reasons.
Perry's decision to make the book into a film was not met without controversy, with some, such as Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
, having expressed doubts over whether the book should be made into a film at all. Others had reservations based on Perry's position at the helm of such an important book in African American literature, particularly considering the controversies raised by Precious, a film he lent his name to.
When asked if she held reservations about Perry's adaptation of her work, Shange responded: "I had a lot of qualms. I worried about his characterizations of women as plastic." In reference to the film post-production, she stated that "I think he did a very fine job, although I'm not sure I would call it a finished film."
External links
- Gans, Andrew, and Kenneth Jones. "For Colored Girls Revival, Starring Grammy Winner India.Arie, to Arrive on Broadway This Summer", PlaybillPlaybillPlaybill is a monthly U.S. magazine for theatregoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most Playbills are printed for particular shows to be distributed at the door...
, 10 March 2008
"McNary, David, VARIETY, "Liongate Acquires 'Suicide," 25 March 2009.
"Sergio, SHADOW & ACT, "How Tyler Perry Got "For Colored Girls...," September 2010.