ARTS

for colored girls... conveys hope with powerful and moving performance

by Rumaan Alam

If you don't already have tickets, then you're out of luck: you're going to miss seeing one of the best productions to be mounted at Oberlin in recent memory. This weekend, the Theater and Dance department and the African American Studies Department present ntozake shange's play for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf in Little Theater.

The short but intense play is a wonderful piece, and the production truly does justice to the script. Blending song and dance with traditional stage technique, the evening is a rollercoaster ride of sorts. There are moments of pain and sorrow, of pride and shame, of humor, of horror. The shifts between these emotions are sometimes abrupt, but the piece is suited to this quick pace, and the talented cast is able to sustain these shifts without a problem.

The play itself is very abstract and innovative. The women play a variety of characters, and slip in and out of different roles quickly. However, you are left feeling that they are also just being themselves. The actual substance of the piece revolves around different women's stories of their experiences as "colored girls." These stories range from the humorous to the painful, but the play itself is about hope, about loving life as a "colored girl." Colored Girls

The cast is very cohesive and very talented. Director Caroline Jackson Smith should be commended for assembling such a strong cast and managing to coax from each of the women a fantastic and memorable performance. The play has no real "star;" every woman has her turn telling a story. The evening becomes an ensemble effort.

Perhaps the most heart-rending story is the one told at the end of the play, by a woman who loses everything at the hands of her husband. The actress, junior Annie Lee Moffett, is wonderful. Her tale makes the audience cringe. Then, in beautiful contrast, the women join in a song, rise above the horrors of life to something more powerful: hope.

The evening is enhanced by the beautiful singing voices of all of the women. And there are some memorable acting moments by first-year China Crawford, sophomore Sheri Burnett, and junior Adeola Oshodi.

But what is most impressive about this show is the incredible strength and sense of group endeavor. Everyone in this show, from the musicians (including a beautiful vocal performance by sophomore Alexander Elisa) to senior Vayram Nyadroh, who not only acts but also plays the cello, gives so much to the show that it is impossible for the audience not to feel affected. It is wonderful that the show has sold out so quickly - people had to be turned away from the dress rehearsal - as this is a piece which truly deserves to be seen.


Photo:
for Colored Girls: Adela Oshodi takes center stage in this weekend's performace offor colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf. The show went up in Little Theater on Thursday and runs through Sunday. (photo by Laren Rusin)


Photo:
Friends: Monique Mozee and Adeola Oshodi dance in for colored girls .... (photo Laren Rusin)

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Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 6, October 10, 1997

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