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For Colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf’ How does the selected dramatist or theatre-maker use the body in their work to explore human experience? In Ntozake Shange’s ‘For colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf’ (2010), explores the marginalisation of black women’s bodies and that of the black community during the 70’s in which the play was written. Shange uses the body to describe the experience of black people in the community during this period. ‘For colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf’ (2010) purposely disregards customs of theatres ‘’differences.” Its characters are made up of seven actors who are identified not according to the colour of their skin or gender as they are all black females but by the colour that they are wearing (Mahurin, 2013) this suggests human interchangeability, leaving the audience with the question will the lady in purple become the lady in green etc. and what does this say about how the roles oscillate between the bodies cast and the individuals thus embodied (Mahurin, 2013). In the first scene, when all the ladies first appeared on the stage, we see them ‘’frozen in a posture of distress” (Shange, 2010, p. 17), this reflects the position of black women in the society of that time, frozen and stuck in an oppressive society who doesn’t view them with any value which must have felt very frustrating. The lady in brown describes ‘’dark phrases of womanhood’’ (Shange, 2010, p.17) how young black girls are dancing with ‘no rhythm/ no tune’’ (p.17). and she demands for ‘’somebody/ anybody sing a black girl’s song’’ (p.18), this reveals the lack of voice and guidance the young black girls of that time had and how they were struggling to exist in the formative years in their progression into womanhood. (Tellini, 2015) ,In contrast to this ,the lady in green shows us a huge amount of self-empowerment in a society that has not been kind to her, this is seen when she demands from a man "why don’t ya find yr own things/ & leave this package / of me for my destiny" (p.65), she does not demand material things back but her

identity back, her dreams, her experiences, and her hope and shows a huge sense of self assurance that she will not let a man define her. She wanted to take back her sense of identity from a society who does not appreciate her. The removal of the male perspective in the play was met with much outrage by men however, this strategy of exclusion, helped to isolate and illuminate the black female body in a way that would be impossible were it forced to occupy stage with men or white characters. (Mahurin, 2013). As the women begin to unfreeze and they begin to dance, sing, and echo each other’s chants together (p.62-63), they come together in unity and a greater understanding of each other’s experiences that they often share as black women. This unfreezing represents them taking back their voice together against the marginalisation they receive as females of colour.

References: Shange, N. (2010) For colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf: a choreopoem, New York: Scribner Shange. Mahurin, S., (2013). "Speakin Arms" and Dancing Bodies in Ntozake Shange. African American Review, 46(2-3), pp.329-343. Tellini, S., (2015). Experimental Language Deconstructing Patriarchal Discourse in Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf. American, British and Canadian Studies Journal, 25(1), pp.155-170....