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OBERLIN, OH—The Obie Award-winning 'for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf' by poet/playwright nzotake shange, will be coming to Oberlin College's Little Theater for five performances, March 3-7. Co-directors Caren Blackmore '04 and Treva Lindsey '04 and an ensemble of Oberlin student performers present a colorful, honest, powerful, and evocative view of Black women in society. Performance Dates Performances of 'for colored girls' are at 8 PM, Wednesday-Saturday, March 3-6, 2004 with 2 PM matinees on Saturday & Sunday, March 6 & 7. The Little Theater has limited seating and is located behind Hall Auditorium. 'for colored girls' is performed without intermission and there is no late seating. The production is sponsored by the Oberlin College Theater and Dance Program www.oberlin.edu/thedance and the African American Studies Department (www.oberlin.edu/afamstud). The 'for colored girls' performances are for mature audiences and not intended for children under 12. Production Notes 'for colored girls' is unrelenting in its portrayal of the pain Black women confront. "The legacy of multifaceted oppression against Black women unfolds in a contemporary context that mingles the artistic and the lived," explains co-director Blackmore who is also performing as the Lady in Brown. "In our production there will be nine colors rather than the usual seven as this dynamic ensemble captures the diverse hues of Black women's stories, further extending the metaphor between Black women and the rainbow." "Though each women's vivid story is unique, the individual recollections convey the multidimensional essence of Black women's existence," adds co-director Lindsey who is also the choreographer for the production and performing as the Lady in Red. "The performers breathe life into the shared experiences of women of color through mellifluous poetic voice, polyrhythmic movement, and a stunning musical pulse that reveals the common spirit extant among Black women struggling to discover that which permanently sustains." Even before entering the theater the audience is invited on a journey. The alcove of the Little Theater will be transformed by an installation comprised of images of Black women that influenced Oberlin's student ensemble. The images in this walk-of-fame range from famous women--such as poet Nikki Giovanni and celebrity Oprah Winfrey--to family members of the performers. Overlapping this visual experience will be the voices of the cast as they tell their own personal stories. Performers and Production Team Ntozake Shange (playwright, novelist, poet, professor) was born in St. Louis, MO, educated at Barnard College and the University of Southern California, and now lives in Philadelphia, PA. She is the recipient of two Obie Awards, and is the Mellon Distinguished Professor of Literature at Rice University, an Artist-in-Residence at Villanova University, and writer-in-residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She teaches courses in literature of people of color, feminist aesthetics, and writing and performance art. She debuted for colored girls in a woman's bar outside of Berkeley, CA, in 1974, the first step in a journey that eventually led to a long and successful Broadway run beginning in 1976. The Village Voice wrote that shange is blessed with "a voice we should eternally treasure." Her later works include Spell #7, Boogie Woogie Landscapes, From Okra to Greens, Nappy Edges, Betsey Brown, and Liliane.
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