Adorned in the colors of the rainbow, seven women electrified Broadway audiences in 1976 with an innovative blend of dance, music, poetry, and storytelling that placed African American women’s lives and voices in mainstream theater. Ntozake Shange’s (1948–2018) spectacular first play, for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, was the second show by an African American woman to open on Broadway. In Shange’s powerful choreopoem, the seven female characters present poetic monologues conveying struggles with racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination and violence, while the rainbow symbolizes the celebration of their survival and hope for a brighter future.
For Colored Girls...
Object Details
- Date
- 1976
- Designer
- Paul Davis, American, b. 1938
- Client
- Booth Theater, American
- Author
- Ntozake Shange, American, 1948–2018
- Catalogue Status
- Research in Progress
- Description
- Poster promoting the play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf" at the Booth Theatre.
- made in
- New York, NY, USA
- See more items in
- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Collection
- Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department
- Credit Line
- Gift of Unknown Donor
- Data Source
- Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
- Accession Number
- 1980-32-981
- Type
- theater
- Object Name
- Poster
- Type
- Poster
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Medium
- Lithograph
- Dimensions
- H x W: 116.8 × 58.6 cm (46 in. × 23 1/16 in.)
- Metadata Usage
- Not determined
- Record ID
- chndm_1980-32-981
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.