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Poster: Voor Vrouwen die in Regenbogen Geloven maar ook Zelfmoord overwogen (1986)

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Poster: Voor Vrouwen die in Regenbogen Geloven maar ook Zelfmoord overwogen (1986)

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https://youtu.be/LNdIMakUhVQ

A short impression of the movie For Colored Girls that used Shange's play as inspiration and starting point

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For Colored Girls (2010) - Official Trailer

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Here you can find our complete dramaturgical book.

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Vergouwe, Ducrot, Dramaturgical Book, For Colored Girls, Seminar Dramaturgy

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The original subway poster for Colored Girls

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The original subway poster for Colored Girls

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[Ntozake Shange ; Paul Davis, designer].

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for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf original “subway poster” by Ntozake Shange, designer Paul Davis on Ian Brabner, Rare Americana, LLC

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Original multi-sheet “subway poster” promoting in New York City Ntokake Shange’s play for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf which opened in 1976 at the Booth Theatre. Designed by graphics artist and illustrator Paul Davis, the poster’s large size –two feet wide by…

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On October 18, 1948 Paulette Williams was born in Trenton, New Jersey. She studied American Studies at Barnard College in New York City which she graduated from in 1970. After this she continued her education at The University of Southern California in Los Angeles for a Masters programme. When she turned 23 she changed her name to Ntozake Shange, originated from the Zulu population in South-Africa, because her name of birth made her feel like she was living a lie with having an Anglo-Saxan name while being colored. Besides that, her new name also helped to climb back up after a period in which she attempted suicide several times.In the 1960s she started studying at Barnard College where she came across several radical movements like for instance feminism and the Black liberation movement. These movements touched her deeply and made her vocal for these different minority groups. For colored girls was the first play she wrote and many others followed. Over the course of her life, Shange has written 15 plays, 19 poetry compilations and several books and essays. She taught and gave guest lectures at several different universities and traveled around the world for political purposes. Shange died in 2018 at the age of 70 after an influential and inspirational life.

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Biba: Only since I have been studying Theatre at the University of Amsterdam have I become more aware of my skin color. I always knew about slavery and racism, but didn’t realize it was still so relevant. In my bachelor's I did a project in which I researched the Dutch colony of South-Africa and learned a lot about power structures. I also wrote a paper about the musical In the Heights in which I learned a lot about the Latinx community and diversity on Broadway. Right now I’m working on a project in which I research the Theatre Collection Selection of the Allard Pierson in which 100 of ‘the best’ productions of that year are chosen. We are looking into the diversity of that selection. So recently I’m really involved in researching other cultures which I find really interesting. That also interests me in For Colored Girls since I don’t recognize myself in the struggles of the characters and that’s why I also think it’s important to show this difference to a Dutch (white) audience.

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Meike: When Biba and I first started reading this play I didn’t feel an immediate connection to it. Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was very interesting, but I always feel like I am not the one to talk about the topics that this play addresses. However, after our presentation I quickly found out that it is indeed very important to talk about these subjects and that it is okay to make mistakes. That is, as long as you are transparent. I thought it was really interesting to talk about what it would be like to stage this play today. At first we thought we wouldn’t be able to stage it in the Netherlands today, because we didn’t dare to change anything about the text. After presenting our thoughts, we did however find that it actually would be good to stage the play in the Netherlands, because it would still be very relevant. Now that I’ve read the play more than once and I’ve done some research on the social and political context of the play I feel very emotionally connected to this play. I would very much like it if we would be able to really stage it. I also feel a connection to Ntozake Shange, as I think she is a very fierce, feminist and strong woman.

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We wanted to show an example of the choreopoem. Below you can find a fragment of the opening poem of For Colored Girls

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Lady in brown
dark phrases of womanhood
of never havin been a girl
half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
distraught laughter fallin
over a black girl's shoulder
it's funny/ it's hysterical
the melody-less-ness of her dance
don't tell nobody don't tell a soul
she's dancing on beer cans & shingles

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Below you can listen to an audio fragment of the first Broadway staging of the play in 1976. The fragment cited above starts at 00:30.

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For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide when Tthe Rainbow is Enuf 1976

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For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide when Tthe Rainbow is Enuf 1976

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For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide (1976) | Broadway Cast Recording