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CONTACT: Janice Short
443-885-3665
janice.short@morgan.edu
Trezana Beverly comes to Theatre Morgan to direct for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf. This civic-minded actor, director, and writer won the 1976 Tony Award for her role as the Lady in Red in the Broadway production of the show. This Renaissance Woman continues to utilize her talents to “uplift the spiritual and intellectual awareness of her audiences.”
Performances will run October 25th -28th and November 1st -4th, 2012 at Morgan State University.
From its California inception in 1974 to its success at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre and on Broadway, this Obie Award-winner and Tony Award nominated play has inspired, touched and transformed audiences all over the country. As predicted by The New Yorker, “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come.” More than forty years later, audiences are still flocking to this story that eloquently explains that “bein alive & bein a woman & bein colored is a metaphysical dilemma.”
Shange’s play is a series of 20 poems performed by seven women. Each poem/story becomes the story of everywoman; your mother, your sister, your spouse, you! The characters, who are nameless, are represented by colors- “Lady in Yellow,” “Lady in Purple”…All personifying the rainbow and giving it human form. The playwright has captured the struggles that women of color have faced throughout the generations: rape, abortion, domestic violence, misogyny, self-image, and a sense of self-worth.
The playwright/poet has updated the original script. As the character Beau Willie is now returning from Iraq, Shange revisits an old story in a new time. As a response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has especially affected women of color, she has added the poem “positive”. Through all of the trials and tribulations, the women find joy in the journey…“i found god in myself & i loved her/ i loved her fiercely”.
Come out to see Trezana Beverley’s very unique approach to this timeless piece. Her insight into the characters and her personal connection to the play is evident as she choreographs the telling of the story through poetry, music, and dance.
