Coming
May 21, 2011!!!
For Colored
Girls (Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is
Enuf)
‘For
Colored Girls’, which is a landmark piece in African
American literature, is a 1975 experimental play by
Ntozake Shange. Initially staged in California, it has
been performed Off-Broadway and on Broadway, 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.
Shange's
play expresses a variety of struggles experienced by
African-American women. 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.
Their
struggles deal with abandonment, love, rape, abortion,
etc. and embodies each woman's story (For instance, Lady
in Red's emotional tale of domestic violence). The end
of the play brings together all of the women for "a
laying on of hands," in which Shange calls on 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."
The film
version of For Colored Girls is a 2010 adaptation of the
play written, directed and produced by Tyler Perry.
State
Representative Ruth Ann Gaines, Chair of the Iowa
Juneteenth Observance Arts Committee, will direct a cast
of Iowa women bringing you the play ‘For Colored Girls’
on May 21 at the Iowa State Historical Building.
Parents
are advised that strong language is used in this
artistic portrayal of human events and is for mature
audiences only-----Parental Discretion Advised!!
Free
admission and open to the public.
Click here to see photos from the 2010 play production
