FOR COLORED GIRLS....Opens 2018 Season at Obsidian Theater

Obsidian Theater opens the 2018 season with the groundbreaking "choroepoem," For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. This spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives, about and performed by Black women can be see at Obsidian Theater, January 25 - February 17.

Written by Ntozake Shange, For Colored Girls...interweaves the stories of seven women who have suffered oppression in a racist and sexist society. Twenty separate poems choreographed to music,weave the interconnected stories of love, empowerment, struggle and loss into a powerful and complex representation of sisterhood. Written in a way that mimics how real women speak, Shange tackles the topics of rape, abandonment, abortion and domestic violence. Winner of the 1977 Obie Award for Distinguished Production and 1976 Tony Award Nominee for Best Play, For Colored Girls... captures the brutal, tender and dramatic lives of contemporary Black women.
Director Dabrina Sandifer has this to say about why this work is still important and relevant.

"In a time in which even more women are finding and fighting for a voice to be bold, live life on their terms, and take back their power from pain instead of cowering in the shadow of being victimized...For Colored Girls...is not only timeless. It is necessary. Historically, many women of color have been coerced into or taught to be silent. To suffer in silence. To dim, endure, accept, and implode in silence. This show forces or rather dares the spectator to consume the female voice, in various forms, from her perspective, which is often treated as the antithesis of the majority. Ultimately, one thing I am passionate about conveying and advocating is...these narratives written by a Black woman for other Black women and experienced by many women matter. We matter!"

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf will be directed by Dabrina Sandifer and stage managed by Mark Jaskson. The cast consists of Esteé Burks (Lady in Yellow), Sonya D. Gooden (Lady in Purple), Kimberly Hicks (Lady in Red), Sara Jackson (Lady in Brown), Anna Maria Morris (Lady in Blue), Destiny Mosely (Lady in Green), and Raven Troup (Lady in Orange).

Performances of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf are January 25 - February 17, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm. Industry Night will on Monday, February 5 at 8 pm with discounted tickets available for those who work in the industry. A special matinee performance will be held on Saturday, February 10 at 2 pm. The box office opens an hour before curtain with seating beginning 30 minutes before show time. Tickets will be on sale after the first of the year and may be purchased online at www.obsidiantheater.org or by calling 832-889-7837.

Obsidian Theater (formerly Obsidian Art Space) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in March 2010. Since its inception, Obsidian has provided an affordable space for visual and performing artists' creative works. Obsidian seeks to provide an environment in which artists' creativity and imaginations may thrive. In 2016, award-winning Obsidian Theater, known for producing bold, diverse plays, merged with SRO Productions, an award-winning producer of fearless musicals. Named the Best New Arts Venue of 2011 by the Houston Press, Obsidian Theater will continue to serve Houston artists and the historic Heights community with our intimate and versatile

Artwork Credit: Hiram Olvera