The New York Times: “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf” is not a play. Or that’s not what the breakthrough work was called by its author, Ntozake Shange. Her word was “choreopoem,” and any production of “For Colored Girls,” like the major revival now in previews at the Public Theater, has to figure out what the term means.
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This article is interesting to me for multiple reasons. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to do some research on the Public Theatre, so I initially recognized the name of the show from all their promotional material. I hadn’t really looked into the show much, but I had heard great things. Reading into what it means to be a choreopoem is interesting; I had never thought of combining the two. I was also really interested by this article as a lighting designer interested in dance lighting. In high school, I had the opportunity to do the lighting design for our dance concert for three years. I love how light can capture the movement of bodies. I hope I have the opportunity to go and see this show at the Public Theatre and see their lighting. This article does a really good job at providing some history and insights from the poet herself. Part of this history and insight that I was intrigued by was that she wants to be known as a poet and not a playwright. This difference helps set this production apart from the rest of the season at the Public Theatre.
I worked “For Colored Girls” as a sound designer when I was a freshman in highschool. I will admit, I did feel a bit like a fish out of water. The play structure and the culture that the play was representing was new to me. The play was excellent at making people feel and connect to the characters through their struggles and hardships. I think it would definitely be interesting if we hadn’t thought about it so much as a play, but as a “choreopiece.” There was dancing in the play, but the dancing wasn’t choreographed by a choreographer. It was natural, and representative of the actors themselves. I really liked the play, but I definitely liked the show and what I could learn from it. I also didn’t know Ntozake Shange had passed away, I’m honored to have been able to meet her before she did because her work is so inspiring.
Like Bianca, I have also done research about the history of The Public and I think they are a good example of a professional, highly regarding professional company that does a pretty good job of incorporating diverse, creative, and artistic work into their seasons and developments. I think that this choreopoem format is very interesting, I wish I could go see this production a the Public. However, this article made me wish that I was learning about culturally and artistically diverse theatre (and other performance art and literature) here in my classes at Carnegie Mellon. While I understand that there are portions of theatre history that must be talked about, I think that it is incredibly white and Eurocentric. As a white person that had very little theatre knowledge prior to deciding to study it, I feel like I do not know a lot about theatre and would very much appreciate having exposure to diversity in my curriculum because it is being written over with this focus on white/Eurocentric theatre. I do my best to find that kind of material myself, but I know that many people do not search for that and I think that this inclusion would be beneficial for our system, as we are the next generation of theatre makers.
I have a friend that was a Production Assistant for this production and he was highly impressed with everything that was going on stage and how well the story resonates with audiences of all colors, but particularly for people of color. Ntozake Shange has made this play into the powerhouse of a show that it is, no one really expected anything to really come out of the choreo poem but what the show has somehow developed into a show that not only is powerful, but works onstage. What of my favorite things about For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf is that it highlights aspects of suicide that are usually to triggering to put onstage but the show has a way of staging it in a way that is tasteful and is embedded in reality, making it impossible to not be captivated by the story.
There are a lot of really compelling aspects to this work which all feed into one another to create a inspiring and unique piece. I had not even heard of a choreopoem before reading this article but it seems like an incredible tool for story telling particularly with a story like this one whose cultural history has strong elements of dance and movement making the format empower and enrich the story farther which is something that everyone should be striving for. With that the article went into the process as one that was demanding and atypical without a clear definition of roles and a strong need for everyone to be present in the room. It’s clear that method was extremely effective in the work they created and they had a dedicated creative team (which was all black women) which was able to create an incredible piece of art but at no point does that mean the process was an easy one. They along with the performers had so much they had to invest into the process which was done in a way that isn’t really repeatable with any formula, which it was mentioned was critiqued by some other theatre makers but I think it speaks to the process they went through and the integrity of the work itself. I think that it is work like this one that are moving the industry as a whole towards more creative and compelling work by a diverse set of voices.
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