So I recognize that many of you have no clue why I have the sub-headline that I do…”for colored girls who’ve considered travel when the US wasn’t enuf…” Well, let me let you in on the pun…it seems only polite…I mean…you came all this way!
Well, besides being a teacher and a writer, I also like to fancy myself an actress (you know, the kind that goes on countless auditions and gets really geeked when I get the smallest of parts at any theatre that will take me, usually for free, all while paying back thousands of dollars to Sallie Mae for this lovely degree that proclaims me—to myself—a serious actress with an intense focus on her craft). I have been in several productions in my life, but there were a few that stuck with me in a way that no others could. One of those productions was “FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/ WHEN THE RAINBOW WAS ENUF” by Ntozake Shange. This was the first play that I performed in college, fall semester, 2002. (Lady in Purple)
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| That's me on the far left corner, passionately staring at the floor lol |
It was LIFE altering. If you can imagine an awesome therapy session in which you get to lay down all of your hurt feelings while performing words that don’t expose all of your personal secrets, then you can imagine this play. It was amazing! As a cast, we laughed together, and cried together, and danced together. This was some real live hippy shit! But I was enthralled throughout the entire process.
I went on to be in the weddings, birthing rooms, and child birthday parties of these cast members. This show brought us together in a way that no production of “Annie” ever could. It was a little bit like epic.
So, when it came time to think about fleeing half way around the world to start a life from scratch after years of investment in this one, my mind instantly went back to that play.
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| Ntozake Shange was responsible for creating a new theatrical format-- the choreopoem |
I want so badly for this experience to be that on a larger scale. To my fellow auxiliares: this should change our lives! This should make us confront a myriad of feelings both good and bad! This should build a bond between some of us because no one else will know what this feels like!
So with that being said, and going back to those of you who have never had the pleasure of seeing “for colored girls…” here is the opening monologue of the show… (I highly recommend putting this on to your “To Be Watched” list…male or female, black or white…the themes are really universal and quite powerful)
Lady in Brown
dark phrases of womanhood
of never havin been a girl
half-notes scattered
Without rhythm/ no tune
distraught laughter fallin
over a black girl’s shoulder
it’s funny/ it’s hysterical
the melody-less-ness of her dance
don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul
she’s dancing on beer cans & shingles
this must be the spook house
another song with no singers
lyrics/no voices
& interrupted solos
unseen performances
are we ghouls?
children of horror?
the joke?
don’t tell nobody don’t tell a soul
are we animals? have we gone crazy?
i can’t hear anythin
but maddening screams
& the soft strains of death
& you promised me
you promised me….
somebody/ anybody
sing a black girl’s song
bring her out to know herself
to know you
but sing her rythms
carin/struggle/ hard times
sing her song of life
she’s been dead so long
closed in silence so long
she doesn’t know the sound
of her own voice
her infinite beauty
she’s half-notes scattered
without rhythm/ no tune
sing her sighs
sing the song of her possibilities
sing a righteous gospel
let her be born
let her be born
& handled warmly
& this is for colored girls who have considered suicide
but moved to the ends of their own rainbows
Hope you liked it!
Hasta pronto!!!
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