The Pioneer Times

Issue date: 3/6/07 Section: Entertainment

Forget the Oscars and all the blockbuster hits of 2006, William Paterson University's debut performance of the Broadway hit For Colored Girls who have considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf deserves a 2007 Tony award.

From Sunday to Tuesday, each night approximately 150 students packed the White Hall lounge to witness what many called, " The best performance at WPU thus far."

Since its critically acclaimed debut on Broadway in 1976, author, playwright and educator, Ntozake Shange's choreopoem, a drama of self-celebration, which uses a combination of music and dance to perform deep and passionate poetry has become a moving masterpiece of exceptional performance. Black women who are preoccupied with living and surviving bring to the light the issues that others have ignored. It is filled with the outcries of women who have been hurt.

The presentation, which was brought to WPU in celebration of Black History Month, was produced by Treya Lynch, resident director, and directed by Raquel Romans, a graduating senior student leader.

"I felt that the WPU community could benefit from being exposed to such a powerful experience," said the debuting director.

"For Colored Girls…", which deals with issues that are often seen as taboo, offers a perspective on what it is to be a young black woman in modern America.

It was important to deliver this message," said Director Raquel Romans.

The production is comprised of a series of 20 poems, with subject matter ranging from love to abortion, performed through a cast of nameless women, known only by the colors of the rainbow; ladies in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

The play began and ended with the Lady in Brown portrayed by Precious Avorqliyah, graduating senior psychology major.

Continued...

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