InnateVolution Sets Details For FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE

InnateVolution Theater Productions Artistic Director Toma Tavares Langston and choreographer Shawn Quinlan stage Ntozake Shange's 1975 choreopoem, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf. First performed in a bar in Berkeley, California in 1974, Ntozake Shange's staged poem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf played at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre in New York City before transferring to Broadway in 1976. The collection of poems performed by women of color-each identified by the hue of her clothes-creates a unified statement about being a woman of color, being alive, and being an American. The work's tales of love, violence, abortion, rape, and healing are as searing and relevant today as they were thirty years ago.

Performances run June 14 - 26 at The Call (1547 W Bryn Mawr Ave) in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago. Previews are Tuesday, June 14 and Wednesday, June 16. Press Opening is Thursday, June 17. Regular performances are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. All performances begin at 8pm. There is no performance on June 24. Tickets are $20 and include 2 well liquor, house wine, or Miller drinks. Ages 21+; ID required. For tickets, visit www.innatevolution.org or call 312.513.1415.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf features Jennifer Bradford, Sherly Marie Daceus, Delicia Dunham, Angela A. Johnson, LaTia McPherson, Shemika Phillips, and Afra Williams. It is assistant directed by Toni Lynice Fountain; stage & prop manager is Mary Aurora Moore; costume design is by Raymond K. Cleveland and Rozetta Cleveland.

"I am thrilled to revive For Colored Girls at this moment and in this place," said director Toma Tavares Langston. Even though this is a show that has appeared on Broadway and will soon be a feature film, it premiered, like our production, in a bar. The words spoken by the nameless women in the show remain so vital that this work of theater can be experienced wherever people gather to feel, to heal, and to be human with each other."

"I was excited when Toma approached me to choreograph For Colored Girls as most might think I was an interesting choice being white and male," remarked choreographer Shawn Quinlan. "But as we met more and started to unravel the real stories at the heart of these monologues I realized that anyone, no matter race or gender, could relate. The obstacles these women go through, from broken hearts, and broken families to dealing with death including the consideration of your own, is something we all have had to go through at sometime in our lives."

"We are very excited to have InnateVolution as the first Production Company performing at The Call," said Events Coordinator Rob Mullens. "It is with great pleasure that we open our doors to them and to future groups. It's so important for us to support local theater and to use our space as a platform for these companies and all their talented, creative members to be seen and heard."

Director Toma Tavares Langston, a native of Flint, Michigan, is the Founder and Artistic Director of InnateVolution Theater Productions. He recently produced and directed their inaugural production of The Zoo Story/Sandbox and the world premiere of Right As Rain by April Smallwood. Langston has worked on several Theo Ubique productions such as Cabaret, Jacques Brel's Lonesome Losers of the Night, Belle Barth and the Jeff Award winning Evita.

This is choreographer Shawn Quinlan's second show with InnateVolution after working on movement/ choreography for Right As Rain earlier this year. Other choreography work includes A Chorus Line for Village Players, Carousel for St. Xavier College, and Annee Pocolypse for Hubris Productions. As a performer, he was last seen in Circle Theatre's The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.

About the Cast

Jennifer Bradford is a 2009 Master of Fine Arts graduate in Theatre Arts from the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her theatre credits include A Motherless Child, The Talented Tenth, Well, In the Continuum, Bee-Luther Hatchee, Once on this Island and Seven Guitars.

Sherly Marie Daceus is finishing up her first year in the Doctoral program in Clinical Psychology at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. She graduated with her Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a Theater minor from the University of Scranton.

Delicia Dunham is excited to make her InnateVolution Theater Productions debut. Her other credits include Me and Louis Armstrong (20% Theatre Company); Bounty of Lace (Halcyon Theatre); Talking Bones (eta Creative Arts Foundation); Much Ado About Nothing (GroundUp Theatre Company); Death and the King's Horseman (Fehinty African Theatre Ensemble); The Monologues of a Dark Child: Exposing the Dark Skin vs. Light Skin Complex (Anita Davis Dance Theater); JANE: Abortion and the Underground (20% Theatre Company); and Dancing at the Revolution (Thunder & Lightning Ensemble). She holds a B.A. in Drama from Duke University and has also studied at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.

Angela Alise Johnson hails originally from Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a BA in Theatre. Her credits include School Daze with the Mahdi Theater Company, Rent with the Ouroboros and Big Noise Theatre Companies, All Shook Up with Big Noise, and What's Behind Our Eyes with Erasing the Distance Theatre.

LaTia McPherson has been a member of MOD Squad (Masters of Dance), World Theater Workshop, Movements Dance Company, and The Chicago Boi Toiz. She can currently be seen performing with the Chicago based performance group GenderBent!

Shemika Phillips is originally from Texas. Previous credits include Nine, Working, Talking With, and The Vagina Monologues.

Afra Williams makes her debut with InnateVolution Theater Productions. She has also appeared in Hair, Smokey Joe's Cafe, The Wiz, and We Will Rock You.

About InnateVolution Theater Productions

InnateVolution Theater Productions is committed to presenting theatrical art works centered on "Human Revolution," a Nichiren Buddhist concept. InnateVolution Theater Productions strives to create theatrical experiences that encompass many art forms such as, fine art, dance and music, etc. Our goal is to cause our audiences to evolve. Thus, affecting others to evolve, which continues to spread from individual to individual then ultimately evolving into a more conscious and compassionate society.

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