Temple Theaters to Welcome Ntozake Shange & Oz Scott, 9/20

Temple Theaters, with Temple University's Division of Theater, Film and Media Arts, welcomes playwright Nzotake Shange and Broadway director Oz Scott to the Temple Performing Arts Center (TPAC) on Sunday, September 20 at 4:00 pm. In a free and public event moderated by Temple professor Lee Kenneth Richardson, the two African American artists will discuss development of Shange's groundbreaking drama for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.

Temple Theaters will proudly present Ntozake Shange with an official citation from Mayor Michael A. Nutter in recognition of her contributions to literature and theater at the event. Mayor Nutter commends "her courage in the portrayal of the real and emotional lives of modern Black women through music, poetry and dance."

Premiering in 1975, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf features seven nameless women of color who share stories of love, loss, and faith through music, dance and poetry. The Washington Post called it "an electrifying Broadway hit...Its form-seven women on the stage dramatizing poetry-was a refreshing slap at the traditional, one-two-three-act structures." The New Yorker called it "passionate, fearless, and all-encompassing."

Author Ntozake Shange was educated at Barnard College in New York City and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She is the author of a number of poetry anthologies, novels and plays, which address themes of identity, agency and race. As a feminist and activist, Shange's works often tackle issues facing the modern Black women. She is the recipient of a several awards including a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize and a National Black Theatre Festival's Living Legend Award.

Oz Scott has an accomplished film, television and theater director who has worked at top regional theaters including Arena Stage in Washington, DC, Hartford Stage in Hartford Connecticut, and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Under his direction, for colored girls... won an OBIE Award and a Drama Desk Award, in addition to receiving Tony and Emmy nominations. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School for the Arts, he is also the recipient of an NAACP Image Award.

Temple Theaters presents the landmark drama for colored girls... as its season opener, running September 16-24 in the Randall Theater. A series of twenty poems set to music and dance, the play will feature eight talented young actors in a simple and intimate production. Director Lee Kenneth Richardson, founding artistic director of Crossroads Theatre Company and original director of George C. Wolfe's The Colored Museum, brings a wealth of experience and vision to this timeless piece.

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