For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/

Posted on | May 14, 2010 | 10 Comments

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange is a choreopoem as opposed to a play. From the introduction Shange stated her intent was “a series of seven poems … which were to explore the realities of seven different kinds of women. They were numbered pieces: the women were to be nameless & assume hegemony as dictated by the fullness of their lives.” This chorus and choreography consisted of seven roles, each female and named after an individual colour; the characters work harmoniously onstage (and in life) as a rainbow, “the poems & the dance worked on their own to do & be what they were. As opposed to viewing the pieces as poems, I came to understand these twenty-odd poems as a single statement, a choreopoem.” Essentially For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf is a universal performance piece, like The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, told “in the words of a young black girl’s growing up, her triumphs & errors, our struggle to become all that is forbidden by our environment, all that is forfeited by our gender, all that we have forgotten.”

Stylistically the choreopoem is at first off-putting with its lack of capitalisation and its abbreviation of words (also, as you can even see from the introductory quotes above, “and” is always an ampersand). However, it is a powerful piece and I would love to see it performed. The striking poster I noticed hanging on the wall of the teacher Ms. Rain’s apartment in the film adaptation of Precious (still to be reviewed), which encouraged me to read the book; furthermore, it may have the most curious title of anything I have ever read before. There is comedy and tragedy in the rainbow stories and some emotive soliloquies especially the tragic lady in red/crystal story narrated over five pages towards the end. The quotes below reflect both the comedy and the drama and some lines were simply poetic, “more than aureliano buendia loved macondo” (an allusion to One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez).

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf is a feminist work and the issues it relates, those facing women of different realities including love, domestic violence, and rape. Some resonated more than others but the choreopoem style and the concept of a harmonious rainbow, with the women complementing each other, was effective; it is a celebration of womanhood and all its trials and of life.

this note is attached to a plant/ i’ve been waterin since the day i met you/ you may water it/ yr damn self

the other colours ran off

lady in blue

a friend is hard to press charges against

lady in red

if you know him

you must have wanted it

lady in purple

a misunderstanding

lady in red

you know

these things happen

lady in blue

are you sure you didn’t suggest

lady in purple

had you been drinkin

lady in red

a rapist is always to be a stranger

to be legitimate

someone you never saw

a man wit obvious problems

lady in blue

bein betrayed by men who know us

lady in purple

& expect

like the stranger

we always thot waz comin

lady in blue

that we will submit

i loved you on purpose

i was open on purpose

i still crave vulnerability & close talk

& i’m not even sorry bout you bein sorry

you can carry all the guilt & grime ya wanna

just don’t give it to me

i can’t use another sorry

next time

you should admit

you’re mean/low-down/triflin/& no count straight out

steada bein sorry alla the time

enjoy bein yrself

Comments

10 Responses to “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/”

Verity
May 14th, 2010 @ 10:19 am

I’ve never even heard of a choreopoem, so that’s something new for me today! Found the post absolutely fascinating, although I’m not sure if I’d enjoy reading it!
Jenn
May 14th, 2010 @ 1:04 pm

Wow. What an interesting concept and a fascinating review. A choreopoem is not something I would just randomly pick up, but your review has me ready to find a copy. Thanks!
tea lady (the glittering burn)
May 14th, 2010 @ 8:12 pm

This sound absolutely wonderful, just the excerpts are amazing. I’ve just been paid, so it’s Amazon time!
Rebecca Reid
May 14th, 2010 @ 8:27 pm

It certainly does have an attention-catching title. To be honest, though, the style of how it is written sounds so off-putting, I don’t think I could read it. Unfortunately. IT sounds like it addresses important issues.
Rachel
May 15th, 2010 @ 12:15 am

I loved this. At first the actually structure was difficult but its so beautifully written and full of strong women. Happy to see it getting some attention.

“Well, I will not call. I’m not going to be nice.I will raise my voice & scream and holler & break things & race the engines & tell all your secrets bout yrself to yr face …& i wont be sorry for none of it.” -Ntozake Shange
Jenny
May 15th, 2010 @ 2:11 am

I think I’d have to see this performed, rather than reading it, at least the first time through. Of course the last time it was in town I missed it – I meant to go but I had the dates wrong.
anothercookiecrumbles
May 16th, 2010 @ 1:13 pm

Like Verity, I’ve never heard of a choreopoem. While the post is fascinating, it’s not something I think I’ll be picking up or looking for….

The whole “yr” and lack of capitalisation… just not my thing. :S
Black North American Authors « Diversify Your Reading
May 25th, 2010 @ 4:16 pm

[...] Shange, Ntozake (Wikipedia) For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf (choreopoem): Reviewed at Feminist Texican, This Book and I Could Be Friends, Paperback Reader [...]
Precious by Sapphire | Paperback Reader
June 14th, 2010 @ 12:31 pm

[...] It is not an easy book to read -in terms of both narrative accessibility and subject matter- but I think it is a necessary one. I did not find it exploitative or emotionally manipulative but I can understand the concerns of people who do and who suspect it of being disingenuous. I have not read A Color Purple by Alice Walker but can still draw comparisons; there are several references made to the Pulitzer-winning novel and to Celie. The film is as equally distressing -to see some of the abuse enacted is sometimes stronger than imagining it- but there are some artistic distancing techniques as well as some similarly clever allusions to cother ultural representations of black female experience, as in the poster of For Colored Grls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf (as mentioned here). [...]
LP
February 12th, 2011 @ 6:41 pm

I enjoyed the movie and want to read the poetry. The poetry is powerful despite the grammatical errors or whatever. I’d still enjoy reading it. Judging from the comments, though, some people find it hard to step outside their comfort zone. “To color outside of the lines” or to have color at all. But Thanks for this.