AIDS Alabama will present FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE /WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF by Ntozake Shange at the Alabama School of Fine Arts Dorothy Jemison Day Theatre on Monday, June 16, 2014.
The event begins with a Pre-Show Reception at 6:00pm hosted by The Ballard House Project. The performance will begin at 7:30pm and is directed by Jacqueline Lockhart. Admission is a minimum donation of $10 at the door. This event is sponsored by the Southern AIDS Coalition and the Ballard House Foundation.
The content is mature and recommended for adults only.
This event is in partnership with Project1VOICE, a national organization whose mission is to strengthen and promote African-American theater and playwrights through innovative initiatives and community engagement. This performance is part of Project 1VOICE’s fourth annual national event, 1VOICE/1PLAY/1DAY. This year’s event will include performances in more than thirty cities around the world on June 16th to celebrate womanhood and focus on empowering women and girls.
AIDS Alabama’s staged reading of FOR COLORED GIRLS will feature professional actresses and women from various walks of life coming together to address HIV, domestic violence, sexual health, relationships and a myriad of other issues.
“The purpose of this event is to give voice to women and issues that are happening in our community everyday—but rarely discussed openly,” says Dafina Ward, Chief Prevention Officer at AIDS Alabama. “To end HIV/AIDS, we must address substance use, domestic violence, mental health and so many other challenges. This piece includes all of that, and also the victories when women overcome these struggles. This cast of women has embraced FOR COLORED GIRLS as their own personal story. And that alone is powerful.”
Cast members include: Caprenia Anthony (Actress/Health Advocate,) The Honorable Sharon Blackburn (Federal Court Northern District of Alabama), Renee Blalock and Angela Fisher Hall (Birmingham Public Library), Priscilla Hancock Cooper (Interim CEO, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute), Yolanda Sullivan (CEO of YWCA Central Alabama), Angela Crenshaw (Actress/Law Enforcement Officer), Shaunteka Curry (Spoken Word Artist), Debra Richardson (Community Advocate), Majella Chube-Hamilton (The Ballard House Project), Shirley Ferrill (Actress/Community Activist), Tasha Simone (Radio Personality, HOT 107.7/Cumulus Media), Eugenia Taylor (Magic City Acceptance Project), Shakira DeSavoir (AIDS Alabama), Joanette Ridner (Community Participant), Delores Byrd-Smith (Actress), and Donna Todd (Actress/Choreographer for original Birmingham production of FOR COLORED GIRLS in 1980).
For the women participating, this event is important for a number of reasons:
“This production shows what we experience as women isn’t limited by color, age or background.” – Joanette Ridner, Community Participant
“There is great power when we unite as a community. This event will bring attention, education and conversation about current social issues including AIDS and domestic violence. There is also a lighter side to Shanges’ words that remind me, and hopefully the audience, of the importance of creating memories, living life to its fullest. I wasn’t born when this “choreopoem” first hit Broadway, yet it is so relevant to my living today.” – Tasha Simone, HOT 107.7, Cumulus Media.
“A caring community hears the voices of desperation, pain, strengths and resilience. This production by AIDS Alabama challenges us to hear and respond to those voices-as one community.”—Eugenia Taylor, Magic City Acceptance Project
“Life experiences, both good and bad, have shaped our individual stories. They show us how to navigate life’s pitfalls with grace and poise. Thanks to the support of others my adversities have ultimately strengthened who I am. Therefore I am compelled to judge not and to do what I can to support others in their life journeys.” – Yolanda Sullivan, YWCA
“This production shows what we experience as women isn’t limited by color, age or background.” – Joanette Ridner, Community Participant
[highlight ]ABOUT PROJECT ONE VOICE’s 1VOICE/1PLAY/1DAY[/highlight]
On Monday, June 16th, 2014, Project1VOICE will present its 4th Annual 1VOICE! 1PLAY! 1DAY! This year, Project1VOICE celebrates what it means to be female in this world with international staged readings of Ntozake Shange’s, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF.
FOR COLORED GIRLS… marks the 40th anniversary of its stage debut this year. This seminal work of American literature uniquely combines poetry, dance and music—placing the African-American female’s experience in America unapologetically center stage. The play is a compilation of 20 poems, collectively called a “choreopoem.” Ntozake’s poetry expresses the struggles and obstacles African-American women may face in their lives. It is performed by a cast of seven women characters, each of whom is only known by a color, such as Lady in Red. The women in the play learn to celebrate their beauty as women, their friendships, their scars, their successes, and their connection to something larger and divine. They discover their uniqueness and power and how they are glorious even when flawed. The poems deal with love, abandonment, rape, abortion and HIV, embodied by each woman’s story. Its vivid, lyrical language–specific in its pain and universal in its reach–evokes feelings that continue to excite, inspire and transform audiences around the world. Two years after its debut, FOR COLORED GIRLS… became a Broadway sensation, winning an Obie and a Tony Award. Now Project1VOICE and FOR COLORED GIRLS… will continue the conversation, adding a new generation of voices exploring what it means to be female in the 21st Century.
Read more at Project 1 Voice
