Tomorrow night in Balch Arena Theater, the Department of Drama and Dance's production of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" will bring a group of African-American women's strikingly courageous, yet painful stories to Tufts. Through a series of interweaving monologues, the strength and passion of sisterhood is shared not only onstage, but with the audience.
Professor Monica Ndounou is directing the production, which was written by Ntozake Shange and first performed in 1974. Since its opening performance, the production has received much critical acclaim, winning the Obie Award in 1977.
The composition of the production is an unusual blend of choreography, music and voices, which gives a poetic feel to the performance. The script itself sounds like a prose poem, highlighting a series of vignettes that give the characters pervasive personalities. The overall effect is that one genre melts into another, creating a sea of emotion that encompasses the audience.
The play's reputation for having set a precedent for a new and different type of theater is one of the things that attracted Ndounou to the production. "It's a very prominent play in American theater, and in terms of African-American theater it was one of the plays that really shifted the styles of productions that started to take place following this production," Ndounou said.
The play's formatting is what is so unprecedented, as it delves into the realm of a new genre altogether. "[This play] is a choreopoem, which is a unique style and structure that's very different from the traditional well-made play," Ndounou said.
Seven women, played by sophomore Khadijah Hall, junior Hilary Asare, freshman Barbara Florvil and seniors Ursula Griffiths-Randolph, Emerald Carter, Kate Beal and Melissa Backstrom, perform a collection of poems, their various identities distinguished and linked by the differing colors of their scarves and the fact that they are all from outside a certain place: St. Louis, Chicago, Manhattan, etc. The poems follow the women through heartbreaking and tragic stories to the journeys to the ends of their rainbows.
Ndounou hopes that Tufts students will benefit from the production's different structure. "I think it's a great play for a Tufts audience because it is so unique in its style and structure that it will allow us to redefine the way we see theater and be able to broaden our perspective," she said.
Due to its poetic nature, the production does not glaze over horrific descriptions of reality. Issues of suicide, rape and abuse are prominent, and the style of the performance highlights these subjects instead of shying away from them.
"It deals with a lot of issues I believe are very important to the Tufts community," Ndounou said. "Suicide being an important issue for college students, as well as date rape, domestic violence and sexual assault — those types of things we tend to not want to talk about but need to talk about.
"I'm hoping this play will provide an opportunity for us to have more discussion about those issues, as well as more opportunities for everybody to perform more at Tufts," she added.
Junior Chartise Clark, a member of the cast, was also drawn to the play because of its interesting and different structure. "I think it's a very creative and unique piece, the way it's done with the monologues," Clark said.
While the play's format provides challenges, it has also created a great opportunity for Ndounou to work with the show's choreographer, Mila Thigpen, and its musical director, Kris Coombs.
Performances of "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" will be on April 15 to 17 and 22 to 24 at 8 p.m. every night. Tickets are $7 for Tufts students with an ID, subscribers and seniors. Tickets for the general public are $12. April 22 is $1 night.
