The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

SHAKESPEARE in Paradise struck a conscious chord with its production of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.”

Written by Ntozake Shange and directed by Nicolette Bethel, the performance at the Black Box at the Dundas Centre for the Performing Arts lived up to its hype and saw a cast of eight women put on a solid performance in depicting the struggles of women of colour.

The cast was a mix of seasoned and up-and-coming actors thrown into a complex web of comedic, tragic, thrilling, vulgar and eyebrow raising moments, all tied together by an enclosed, intimate space.

Some of the performances, in my view, were overdone but the critique should not take away from the fact that the actresses in the production are not full-time performers.

Cydne Coleby, a project co-ordinator of The Current at Baha Mar - a sponsor of Shakespeare in Paradise 2014 - dubbed the production “an excellent performance.”

I second her recommendation that people ought “to come and see it” and note that the up-close encounter can not be contained in a mere review. The poetry in motion I witnessed on Friday’s opening night left me pondering on the many inferred messages and equally curious to understand Dr Bethel’s reasoning behind choosing to show this production at the Shakespeare in Paradise series.

I asked her “why ‘For Colored Girls’?

She smiled mischievously: “I taught it two years ago and my students liked it so much, they got so into it that I thought ‘maybe I should just do it’. It took me a while to get to that point but I always wanted to do it in that kind of a space, the Black Box. I didn’t want it on a stage far away from people.

“I wanted them (the actresses) to be in people’s faces and so that’s what’s happening.”

“Why now?” I probed further.

“The thing about this play is that it’s timeless,” she answered. “If you are a woman of colour, this play will speak to you. If you’re a woman, this play will speak to you. If you’re a person of colour it will speak to you but particularly if you’re a woman of colour, even today, I think it’s just is alive and real.

“The date rape scene, the AIDS scene, that whole scene where the women are talking about their men, the women who go with the same guy ... all of these things, these are happening today.”

Given the number of issues society faces today and the leisurely pace towards combatting them, a thought-provoking performance that speaks to humanity, the price of opportunity, hardships, choices and perseverance is always appreciated.

Shakespeare in Paradise at the Dundas Centre runs until Saturday, with performances of Romeo and Juliet and Sizwe Banzi Is Dead.