Members of the student-led Ghostlight Reperatory Theatre have been logging long hours in rehearsal for this week’s production of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.”
The production has been a work in progress since last spring, and in the director’s seat is Tysianna Jones, a 21-year-old theatre arts major from Brandon. Jones has been involved in theatre for 11 years and has participated in productions during all four years of her studies here at the University of Mississippi.
She was inspired to stage the play by her mother, who raised her as a single parent.
“The importance of African-American women’s narratives to be told by a cast of women with the same traits will open the university’s eyes to issues surrounding women of color who can’t escape certain circumstances,” she said.
The play was written as a choreopoem, an anthology of poems intended for performance, by Ntozake Shange and debuted off-broadway in 1973.
Zane Edwards and Serenity Jones rehearse their lines minutes before the first dress rehearsal for “For Colored Girls” play.
(Photo by: Ethel Mwedziwendira)
In an article for Ebony Magazine celebrating the play’s 40th anniversary, Shange credited the dedication of women of color for keeping her stories alive.
“Sisterhood is important because we are all we have to stand on,” the poet told Ebony. “We have to stand near and by each other, pray for one another and share the joys and difficulties that women face in the world today.”
Since its initial run, the play has garnered a Tony Award for its Broadway run in 1977. In 2010 Tyler Perry wrote, directed and produced a modern adaptation simply titled “For Colored Girls” based on Shange’s work.
The story is told as 20 separate poems, enunciated by the different colors of the rainbow represented by ladies in red, blue, purple, yellow, brown, green and orange. The cast includes seven women and four men of color, all members of the university’s student body.
Portraying the Woman in Red in this week’s production is Terrye Davis, a junior business management major from Greenwood. “For Colored Girls” is her first foray in to collegiate theatre arts, but she has participated in elementary school and church plays.
“I ran across the flyer for auditions and mustered up the courage to go for it, because I’m always wanting to try new things,” she said.
She said she’s excited about the production because it gives her a chance to portray a strong, yet complicated, character.
“It gives me the opportunity to stand as a representation of women who struggle with channeling their inner emotions and who sometimes make the wrong choices while attempting to neglect who they actually are within and they way they’d have others perceive them,” she said.
She said she hopes students will want to take advantage of this opportunity to become familiar with this powerful story and gain knowledge about different aspects of life beyond what they might normally see.
“This play would enlighten so many individuals on this campus of all races and genders. It would create the space for uncomfortable conversation, which is always necessary,” Davis said.
Over the course of the play these women will tackle a range of issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault and abortion.
Jones said she feels all of these topics are especially relevant and that it is always important to educate on women’s rights. Even though she said she is a bit apprehensive about the reaction to a controversial play performed by an all-black cast on a relatively conservative campus such as Ole Miss, she said she feels like the representation of these issues outweighs the risk of backlash.
“There will be laughing and crying, singing and dancing while educating the audience on rape culture, HIV/AIDs awareness, domestic abuse and more,” Jones said.
She said she feels the most rewarding part of the process so far has been watching her cast members develop and grow with their characters.
“I have witnessed many breakthroughs during rehearsal, and as a director, it’s the most beautiful thing to watch,” she said.
Davis said she enjoyed bonding with her fellow cast members and being positively influenced and motivated by her peers.
“They’ve become my family and have made this experience more than I could have ever imagined,” Jones said.
The group will open the curtains for its first public performance at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Meek Auditorium. Tickets are $10. The show will run every night Wednesday through Saturday, including a Saturday matinee at 2:30 p.m.
