For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf: Armstrong Atlantic State University

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, performed over the weekend of March 28th at the Masquer's Chinese Theatre on the Southside has managed, under the direction of Dr. Elizabeth Denoyers-Cola, to create the ensemble feel that The Savannah Dramaturgy applauds most heartily.

This choreopoem, as it is labeled, by Ntozake Shange, has lost none of its bite or relevance despite roughly twenty years of age upon its back. Particularly following Dr. Cola's approach of "Old School/New School" this piece rises as a collaborative masterpiece in the college season. Though the language is not updated, which would often ruin the poetry of the piece, contemporary music and dance, particularly of the hip-hop genre, is leavened into the piece. As Dr. Cola acknowledges that the process was largely one of learning, running in both directions from New and Old schools, this learning has not failed to produce a product that rewards the audience.

Further, for the opening night performance of March 27th, the piece was accompanied by a reception (and I do not know a dramaturg who will turn down free food) with panel discussion regarding For Colored Girls' continued relevance and place in the African-American dramatic canon. For this discussion alone, it was worth braving the cramped, stuffy interior of Masquer's Chinese Theatre. Indeed, given the fact that the program is staged by an educational institution, I find it dismaying that this is not done more often. One of the prime purposes of drama in education, according to scholars as various as Thomas Gressler and Robert Corrigan, is to teach individuals a deeper understanding of themselves and their situation. By placing Shange's work in the broader context, and reflecting upon how it affected and still affects the panelists, an excellent opportunity was created for the students to explore their own past and the history of the African American. It is a communal experience and an attempt to tap into the communal history.

Anyone reading the script to Colored Girls will find themselves somewhat confused by
Shange's unconventional punctuation, yet the purpose is to break up the standard narrative rhythm into Shange's poetry. One thing that was disappointing was that the rhythm and verve of Shange's writing was not always embodied in voice or movement by the actors. Notable exceptions to this are a recitation by Dr. Cola, the director, herself and much of the material from Lady in Purple (Amber Jones). Here one can find Shange's writing used to its full extent to create the beat of the life of a black woman.

Notable in this production is the inclusion of the male roles in the play, as opposed to the women playing an entire ensemble. While the latter is the more traditional approach, Dr. Cola elected to cast and include male actors in those very roles. Doing so, I feel, was the wiser thing to do in this case on a few different grounds. Firstly, changing between roles quickly is a form of acting that requires a definite amount of talent for the actor involved, and it is a task which student actors are generally not capable of performing effectively (certain counterexamples, such as Will Mobley's performance of the Artful Dodger in SCAD's production of Oliver Twist notwithstanding). Further, from a less practical standpoint, there is the fact that African American men are a very real, very physical part of the lives of African American women. Including the men in the space physically helps to reflect this.

Clive Barnes of The New York Times wrote that this piece could have made him feel guilty about being white and male, and yet it didn't. Coming from a very similar standpoint, I must agree. Instead, the AASU Masquers have managed to construct and perform a canticle. A canticle that sings the praises of humanity, and makes it possible for WASPs to have black sisters.