for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf is a 1976 work by Ntozake Shange. It consists of a series of poetic monologues to be accompanied by dance movements and music, a form which Shange coined the word choreopoem to describe. It tells the stories of seven women who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society.
As a choreopoem, the piece is a series of 20 separate poems choreographed to music that weaves interconnected stories of love, empowerment, struggle and loss into a complex representation of sisterhood. The cast consists of seven nameless African-American women only identified by the colors they are assigned. They are the lady in red, lady in orange, lady in yellow, lady in green, lady in blue, lady in brown, and lady in purple. Subjects including rape, abandonment, abortion and domestic violence are tackled.
Shange originally wrote the monologues as separate poems in 1974. Her writing style is idiosyncratic and she often uses vernacular language, unique structure, and unorthodox punctuation to emphasize syncopation. Shange wanted to write for colored girls... in a way that mimicked how real women speak so she could draw her readers' focus to the experience of reading and listening.
In December 1974, Shange performed the first incarnation of her choreopoem with four other artists at a women's bar outside Berkeley, California. After moving to New York City, she continued work on for colored girls..., which went on to open at the Booth Theatre in 1976, becoming the second play by a black woman to reach Broadway, preceded by Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun in 1959. Shange updated the original choreopoem in 2010, by adding the poem "positive" and referencing the Iraq War and PTSD.
for colored girls... has been performed Off-Broadway as well as on Broadway, and was adapted as a book (first published in 1976 by Shameless Hussy Press), a 1982 television film, and a 2010 theatrical film. The 1976 Broadway production was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play and the 2022 Broadway production was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
Contents
Title
for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf is inspired by events in Shange's life. Shange admitted publicly to having attempted suicide on four occasions, at different times in her life, as early as her undergraduate years. In a phone interview conducted with CNN, she explained how she came to the title of her choreopoem: "I was driving the No. 1 Highway in Northern California and I was overcome by the appearance of two parallel rainbows. I had a feeling of near death or near catastrophe. Then I drove through the rainbow and I went away. Then I put that together to form the title." The colors of the rainbow then became the essence of the women in the choreopoem, named only after their color pseudonyms.
Shange also explains that she chose to use the word "colored" in the title of her choreopoem so that her grandmother would be able to understand it.
Poems
"dark phrases" – Lady in Brown with Ladies in Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow and Purple
"graduation nite" – Lady in Yellow with Ladies in Blue, Green and Red
"now i love somebody more than" – Lady in Blue with Ladies in Yellow, Blue, and Green
"no assistance" – Lady in Red
"i'm a poet who" – Lady in Orange with Ladies in Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple and Brown
"latent rapists'" – Ladies in Red, Blue, Purple
"abortion cycle #1" – Lady in Blue
"sechita" – Lady in Purple
"toussaint" – Lady in Brown
"one" – Lady in Red
"i usedta to live in the world" – Lady in Blue
"pyramid" – Lady in Purple
"no more love poems #1" – Lady in Orange
"no more love poems #2" – Lady in Purple
"no more love poems #3" – Lady in Blue
"no more love poems #4" – Lady in Yellow
"my love is too" – Ladies in Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Brown
"somebody almost walked off wid alla my stuff" – Lady in Green
Synopsis
Structurally, for colored girls is a series of 20-22 poems, depending on whether "my love is too" and "positive" are included in the list, collectively called a choreopoem. Shange's poetry expresses many struggles and obstacles that African-American women may face throughout their lives and is a representation of sisterhood and coming of age as an African-American woman. The poems are choreographed to music that weaves together interconnected stories. The choreopoem is performed by a cast of seven nameless women only identified by the colors they are assigned. They are the lady in red, lady in orange, lady in yellow, lady in green, lady in blue, lady in brown, and lady in purple. Subjects from rape, abandonment, abortion, and domestic violence are tackled. By the end of the play these women come together in a circle, symbolizing the unity they have found sharing their stories.
"dark phrases" – Lady in Brown with Ladies in Red, Blue, Orange, Green, Yellow and Purple
The prologue of the choreopoem "dark phrases" begins with the lady in brown describing the "dark phrases of womanhood". All she hears are screams and promises. Each woman states where she is from, by stating they are outside their respective cities. The lady in brown proclaims that this piece is all for "colored girls who have considered suicide / but moved to the ends of their own rainbows". The women then begin to sing children's nursery rhymes, "mama's little baby likes shortnin, shortnin". Then all the ladies start to dance to the song "Dancing in the Street".
"graduation nite" – Lady in Yellow with Ladies in Blue, Green and Red
The lady in yellow says it was graduation night and she was the only virgin. She was out driving around with her male friends who she has known since the seventh grade in a black Buick, laughing about graduation. After a fight breaks out, the lady in yellow and Bobby leave and end up having sex in the back of the Buick. The other ladies start talking about their sexual preferences.
"now i love somebody more than" – Lady in Blue with Ladies in Yellow, Blue, and Green
The lady in blue talks about how she used to participate in dance marathons frequently. One night she refused to dance with anyone that only spoke English. Throughout the monologue she intertwines English and Spanish. During this time she discovered blues clubs. She says she became possessed by the music. She ends her monologue by calling it her poem "thank-you for music," to which she states: "I love you more than poem". She repeats "te amo mas que," and the other women join her, softly chanting.
Production history
for colored girls... was first performed by Shange with four other artists at the Bacchanal, a women's bar, outside Berkeley, California. About six months after performing the work in California, Shange and her collaborator, Paula Moss, decided to move across the country determined to perform it in New York City's downtown alternative spaces. At the age of 27, Shange moved to New York, where, in July 1975, the reworked for colored girls was professionally produced in New York City at Studio Rivbea in 1975. East coast audiences were soon able to experience Shange's performance piece at other venues including the Old Reliable, and DeMonte's beginning in July 1975 and then starting in March 1976 at the Henry Street Settlement's New Federal Theatre. The show grew increasingly popular, especially among African-American and Latino audiences. As a result, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf opened at The Public Theater in June 1976. Three months later, in September, the show was performed at the Booth Theater on Broadway, where it was continued until July 1978 and ran for 742 shows. Shange performed as the "lady in orange" at the Broadway opening. It was also published in book form in 1977 by Macmillan Publishing, followed by a Literary Guild edition in October 1977 and Bantam Books editions beginning in 1980. A cast recording was also released by Buddah Records.
From February to July 1978 the production, presented by the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and several American entrepreneurs, toured Australia. It was staged first at Her Majesty's in Adelaide, South Australia, as part of the 10th Adelaide Festival of Arts, before touring to Melbourne, Sydney, Townsville, Cairns, and Brisbane, for two- to four-week runs. Original cast members Alfre Woodard, Trazana Beverley, Laurie Carlos, Aku Kadogo, Carol Maillard, and Lynn Whitfield featured in the show, while it was directed by Oz Scott.
In 1982 for colored girls... was adapted for television on WNET-TV, PBS, as part of The American Playhouse series. Although for colored girls went from a play production to television one, this production was dubbed a "telefilm" instead of a teleplay as the performance on WNET-TV was seen as a serious departure from the Broadway production.
In 2009 Tyler Perry announced that he would produce Shange's for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. The film was the first project for 34th Street Films, Perry's new production company housed in Lionsgate The cast included Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Phylicia Rashād, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington and Thandiwe Newton. Originally using the play's full title, the film's title was shortened to For Colored Girls in September 2010.
Adaptations
American Playhouse
In 1982, the play was adapted for television on PBS station WNET-TV, as part of the American Playhouse. The adaptation, directed by Oz Scott, was seen as a serious departure from the Broadway production. A review by The New York Times states: "What Miss Shange prefers to call a choreopoem has been expanded into realistic settings that too often resemble the sanitized atmosphere of an episode of Good Times. The net result has been a considerable reduction in the work's emotional impact." As a result, the televised production is often seen as a diluted version of the original choreopoem.
Cast
Theatrical film
On March 25, 2009, the film industry magazine Variety reported that Nzingha Stewart, a Black female director, had acquired feature film rights from Shange and that Lionsgate had signed Stewart to write and direct a film adaptation.
Stewart, at Lionsgate's direction, approached Tyler Perry about producing. However, Perry told Lionsgate that if he produced it, he also wanted to write and direct. Perry then usurped the project from Stewart and scrapped her script. The shift prompted controversy over whether Perry had the skill and consciousness to properly depict an iconic feminist work. Stewart remained on in the token position of executive producer. Among those critics were Oprah Winfrey, who 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.
On September 3, 2009, Lionsgate announced it had acquired distribution to Perry's 34th Street Films adaptation, with filming originally scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Georgia, in November and December 2009. The film, retitled For Colored Girls, stars Thandie Newton, Loretta Devine, Kimberly Elise, Whoopi Goldberg, Janet Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Anika Noni Rose, Kerry Washington, Tessa Thompson, Michael Ealy, Macy Gray and Omari Hardwick. Mariah Carey was also cast, but dropped out in May 2010, citing medical reasons.
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 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."
Awards and nominations
Sources:
2022 Broadway Revival
In addition to receiving several accolades, the play has been described as a landmark piece in African American literature and black feminism. It has since become a cornerstone of black feminist writing and 20th-century drama.
Legacy
The title of For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Still Not Enough: Coming of Age, Coming Out, and Coming Home, a 2012 anthology of essays edited by Keith Boykin, was based on the title of Shange's play. Shange's work has also been transformed using different forms of media. It has been continually performed in colleges and universities, art spaces, and theaters throughout the world. It has been set in beauty shops, prisons, and other historical time periods. A Brazilian production dropped the word "color" in the title, and a group of women in Kentucky made it about class instead of race. In a Season Four episode of A Different World, Freddie (Cree Summer) performs a segment from the play during an audition for the fictionalized Hillman College theater production, where show director Whitley (Jasmine Guy) rejects the piece, sarcastically commenting, "Now I know why colored girls consider suicide."
Poster art and design
The poster for the play and book (as pictured above) are by the New York-based graphic artist, Paul Davis.