From its inception in 1974 to its critical success on Broadway, this work has excited and inspired audiences all over the country. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it means to be of color and female in the 20th century. Here is the complete text, with stage directions, of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem.
In celebration of its highly anticipated Broadway revival, Ntozake Shange's classic, award-winning play centering the wide-ranging experiences of Black women, now with introductions by two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward and Broadway director Camille A. Brown.

From its inception in California in 1974 to its Broadway revival in 2022, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has excited, inspired, and transformed audiences all over the country for nearly fifty years. Passionate and fearless, Shange's words reveal what it meant to be a woman of color in the 20th century. First published in 1975, when it was praised by The New Yorker for "encompassing...every feeling and experience a woman has ever had," for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf will be read and performed for generations to come. Now with new introductions by Jesmyn Ward and Broadway director Camille A. Brown, and one poem not included in the original, here is the complete text of a groundbreaking dramatic prose poem that resonates with unusual beauty in its fierce message to the world.
A revolutionary, award-winning play by a lauded playwright and poet about the experiences of women of color.

From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp's Public Theater and on Broadway, the