Love, racism and stereotypes mark choreo-poem

Laura McCoy Guest Writer

Ntozake Shange’s 1974 play “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf” explores experiences of women of color: love, relationships, stereotypes, racism, rape and abortion. The award-winning play is a choreo-poem—a compilation of 20 poems choreographed to music—that lyrically explores the search for black female identity.

Directed by Torrie Williams ’08, President of the Council of Black Seniors, Shange’s production will be presented in the Susan Stein Shiva Theater from Feb. 21-23. The Council of Black Seniors, in collaboration with the Black Students Union and Philaletheis, is hosting the show.

In the play, RaMina Mirmortazavi ’08 plays Lady in Red—each of the seven characters is named according to the colors of the rainbow. “[William’s] strong vision is very unique to the show,” Mirmortazavi said. “She doesn’t just view it as a poem. She really sees the story inside of it. She’s really helped make this into a journey, and not just a poem recitation.”

“This play touches on a lot of issues that are not exclusive to women of color or even to women,” Mirmortazavi continued. “I think everyone can connect to parts of the play differently.”

Indeed, the moving personal odysseys taken by its characters sit at the heart of the production.
“Here at Vassar, people tend to get wrapped up in classes and work and all kinds of things, and they can lose themselves in the process. It’s important to remain connected to yourself,” Mirmortazavi said.

Shange’s play brings about this self-awareness through the personal history she infuses into her work. As a child living in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision, she was bused to a predominantly white school where she faced racism from her fellow students.

Having lived through a period in American history rife with struggles for civil rights and personal freedoms, Shange brings a unique perspective to situations and experiences that, for some, previously existed only in history textbooks.

It is appropriate that this production comes to Vassar during Black History Month, a celebration of the achievements of American black communities in the face of socio-economic oppression. February marks important dates in American history for African Americans, including: Frederick Douglass’s chosen birth date of Feb. 14; Abraham Lincoln’s approval of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery on Feb. 1, 1865; and the 1870 ratification of the 15th Amendment’s provision that U.S. governments cannot prevent citizens from voting on the basis of race.

Shange’s play celebrates the ability of seven black women to rise above the struggles in their lives and become strong, proud and inspirational women.

“Work by women of color is produced too rarely at Vassar, both in the drama department and in student theater,” Rachel Lee ’08, President of Philaletheis said. “The result is that the stories we are telling on stage do not reflect the diversity of our student body. Hopefully this production will inspire future student directors to look beyond the traditional canon,” she said.

Mirmortazavi agreed. “What’s touched me the most about this production is how it has allowed me to voice something I’ve never had a chance to before,” she said. “I hope people take away a greater sense of themselves, whatever that may mean.”