Casting is complete for the Public Theater’s revival of Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Directed by Obie winner Leah C. Gardiner with choreography by Camille A. Brown, performances will begin October 8 in the Martinson Hall prior to an official opening October 22 for a run through November 17.
The cast will feature playwright Jocelyn Bioh (School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play) as Lady in Blue, Celia Chevalier (FBI) as Lady in Brown, Danaya Esperanza (Mary Jane) as Lady in Orange, recent Juilliard grad Jayme Lawson as Lady in Red, Adrienne C. Moore (Orange Is the New Black) as Lady in Yellow, choreographer and MacArthur Grant recipient Okwui Okpokwasili as Lady in Green, and Alexandria Wailes (Big River) as Lady in Purple.
The late Shange’s form-changing choreopoem tells the stories of seven women of color using poetry, song, and movement; each woman voices her survival story of having to exist in a world shaped by sexism and racism.
READ: Soft Power, The Visitor, and More Part of The Public's 2019–2020 Season
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf premiered at The Public in 1976 in the Anspacher Theater with direction by Oz Scott, choreography by Paula Moss, and featuring Shange as Lady in Orange. The production won the 1977 Obie for Distinguished Production. The play transferred to Broadway later that year, where it was nominated for a Tony for Best Play, and Trazana Beverley received the Tony for Best Featured Actress.
The upcoming production will feature an all-women of color creative team ,with scenic design by Myung Hee Cho, costumes by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Jiyoun Chang, sound design by Megumi Katayama, and original composition by Martha Redbone.
A Joseph Papp Free Preview performance will be held October 10.
