Commentary on For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf

Rhodes College’s production of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf opens with dialogue concerning the college’s recent events revolving around racism and sexual violence. This intro adds a layer of intimacy to by taking the subjects of the play into the audience’s real world setting. The insertion of this dialogue is extremely powerful, because it brings the play to life by evoking sounds and images that are current but still relevant to the play.

What really struck me was the composition of the audience. Shange’s audience is meant to target specifically black women. It is important to note that many of the actors are performing racial identity on the stage to connect to the audience. However, the audience at Rhodes, an predominantly white elite private liberal arts higher educational institution, is not comprised of only black women. Instead, the audience represented an array of races. Since there was a diversity of the audience more so than Shange originally intended, the actors and plot line of the play felt somewhat put on hyper-display. The spectatorship quality felt uncomfortable for me personally, because I acknowledge that For Colored Girls was not meant for me. Thus, when the audience watched and responded to the performance, I firmly believe that there was a voyeuristic quality in viewing the production. 

There is this constant struggle in For Colored Girls to grapple with the identity of black women relative to their racial identity and their gender identity. The dialogue between race and gender is essential to this play, because these characters are speaking on behalf of their intersectional plight. This intersection speaks volumes about the hardships that black women face. For Colored Girls brings attention to this neglected population’s marginalization and experiences. Although there is this negative perception of African American men in this play, this portrayal goes back to who the film targets. Shange is not communicating that all black men are physically or emotionally abusive, but that the hardships of black women are real and legitimate.

Throughout For Colored Girls, there was a sense of unity and dialogue amongst the actors within their roles. Much of the play involved the women reacting and talking back to each other’s characters in unity with each other’s struggles. After the play, the talkback between the audience and Britney Threatt and Dr. Reyes emphasized the need for empowerment among women. This sentiment for empowerment is alive in the play in terms of a support system for each of the actors onstage in order to convey the gravity of the struggles of the characters portrayed.