By: Jackilyn Fuller
With themes comprised of Dancing, jumping, shouting, and crying, For Colored Girls is a masterpiece exploring minority women experiences in America while promoting women empowerment.
Coming together
Cast members first began putting the play together late August up until November.
It took a month for cast members and the director to bring together the script. “We started by going through the entire script and analyzing it. And took just like a month to do that part,” said Ginay Lopez, who played the Lady in Brown.
Each cast member will represent a color from the rainbow and each color is symbolic to an emotion. The colors are:
Lady in Red – Passion and anger
Lady in Orange – Love
Lady in Yellow – Youth and innocence
Lady in Green- Bold and persistent
Lady in Blue- Depressed being
Lady in Purple- Positive
Lady in Brown – Intellect and love
“A lot of the monologues are of different women who don’t know each other. It’s just a poem that focuses on African American women and the struggles they face day to day in America,” Lopez said.
For Colored Girls in an intertwining choreopoem telling the story of seven women from various backgrounds who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society. This award winning and inspiring play will be performed by a group of minority theatre performance majors.
“As African American women, we’re considered to be the lowest form of being on earth…so we look for the highest being, God. At the very end they say ‘I found God in myself, and I loved her fiercely’,” Lopez said.
What’s It about?
Just like the original playwright, these Winthrop University students focus their production on abortion, rape, domestic violence and gender inequality. “This is the first minority production that I have ever seen WU produced,” said Stacey Packer, the stage manager.
The senior hopes that more minority driven productions will be in the making after the theatre department sees the students’ support for, For Colored Girls.
For Colored Girls is a legendary and meaningful play that will keep the audience at the edge of their seats with its true-to life narrative scenes that create a vivid and emotional response to all in attendance.
The original poem was written by Ntozake Shange that tells the story of what it’s like to be a woman of color in the 20th century. An educator, a performer/director, and a writer, Shange’s work draws heavily on her experiences of being a black female in America.
From Nov. 5 to 7 Winthrop students will be performing in Plowden Auditorium at 8 p.m. Tickets will be on sale for $5.
Reporter Interview
Reporter Package
Jackilyn's Creations 