[NEohioPAL]Berko review: FOR COLORED GIRLS...RAINBOW IS ENUF/Karamu

[Roy Berko]

	KARAMU OPENS SEASON WITH THOUGHT-PROVOKING PRODUCTION

	Roy Berko

	(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)

	--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

	Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


	They come on stage one at a time, each woman dressed
in a different color.  Each sings, dances, and recites
poetry.  Each tells tales of their experiences with
men.  Often men they loved far more than they loved
themselves.  These are men who have dominated, abused
and taught them about life.   Their words ring with
passion, heartache, desire, rage and love.  And, in
the end, they come to the joint conclusion that “I
found God in myself and I loved her!”
	Ntozake Shange’s ‘FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE
CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF’ is a
choreopoem, a format which allows a group to speak as
individuals, and yet as one.  Sometimes, they dialogue
with one another, at other times take part in each
other's tales.   
	The piece gives "colored girls" a chance to speak
out.  The  material ranges from the evening when one
woman lost her virginity to a group diatribe about the
lousy excuses that men tend to give for their
behavior.   "It was the senior prom and I was the only
virgin in the class"  began one. "I used to live in
the world but I moved to Harlem and now my universe is
just six blocks" started another. The segments range
from funny to sad to heartbreaking.  
	Since the play was written in 1976 some of the
material seems slightly outdated.  In the intervening
years, black women have been given more venues in
which to speak out and reveal themselves.  But while
many things have changed, others have stayed the same.
	The women are identified by color, not of their skin
but of their clothes, for example, the Lady in Red,
Lady in Purple.  This allows each actress to play
different characters and weave in and out of stories
without a character identification.
	The Karamu production brings many of emotions to the
fore.  Unfortunately, the overall effect is one of 
uneveness.   The play itself, though powerful, is not
consistently well written and balanced.  The first act
tends to drag with less variety and fewer emotionally
powerful scenes.  The best material is in the second
act.  And, as often happens with amateur productions,
the talent on the Karamu stage ranges from astounding
to adequate which makes for lulls in the emotional
effect.
	Terrency Spivey, in his second year as Karamu’s
Artistic Director, has done a good job of creating
effective stage pictures.  He clearly leads the
viewer’s eye to the proper place on stage.  His
creative use of scarves helps develop a visual unity
to the production.   He is aided by an excellent light
design by Richard Morris, Jr.  Morris’s stage design
also works well.
	The amazing Nina Domingue (Lady in Red), a former
recipient of a Times Theatre Tribute, again proves she
is one of the area’s acting divas.  Her portrayal of a
mother whose  husband returns from Vietnam with Post
Tramatic Stress Syndrome and destroys her family, has
to be one of the most emotionally draining scenes ever
seen.  It is worth attending just to see her in
action.
	Other strong performances were consistently given by
Monte Escalante (Lady in Purple), Corene Woodford
(Lady in Green). Sonia N. Bishop (Lady in Blue) and
Kimberly Brown (Lady in Orange).   
	CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:   If you are interested in sharing
what it is like to be a black woman from a black
woman’s point of view,  Karamu’s ‘FOR COLORED GIRLS
WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF’
is well worth seeing.  If you are interested in
observing one of the area’s all time great
performances, go see Nina Domingue weave her magic.
	PS.....Take time before the show and during
intermission to read the encounters of African
American women who have thought of or accomplished in
committing suicides.  Materials from the likes of
Oprha Winfrey, Dorothy Dandridge and Mia Angelou are
posted in the lobby.
	‘FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE WHEN
THE RAINBOW IS ENUF’ runs through October 17 at Karamu
Theatre, East 89th Street in Cleveland. For tickets
call 216-795-7070.


=====
Roy Berko's web page can be found at royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, a free on-line source, which can be subscribed to at neohiopal at lists.fredsternfeld.com.


		
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