Fifty years after Ntozake Shange’s groundbreaking ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf’ premiered, the celebrated production is returning to the stage in a setting designed to bring the community together.
Theatre in the X will present the iconic work free of charge at Malcolm X Park (5100 Pine St.) in West Philadelphia from Aug. 20 to 23, continuing the company’s mission of making professional theatre accessible to the African American community in the neighborhood it calls home.
Theatre in the X co-founder and executive director LaNeshe Miller-White — who also takes the stage in this production as Lady in Brown — recently sat down with Metro to talk about why this was the right moment to revisit the groundbreaking play, how performing has deepened her experience of the piece, and what she hopes audiences will discover as they gather together for this unique event.
Theatre in the X’s production takes place during the 50th anniversary of ‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf.’ Why did this feel like the right moment to bring the play to Philadelphia?
Producing the work during this milestone anniversary felt exceptionally fitting, especially as a contrast to our 2025 Malcolm X Park production of ‘Fraternity‘ by Jeff Stetson, which featured an all-male cast and focused on men and brotherhood. We knew that we wanted this summer’s show to feature women and women’s stories, and ‘For Colored Girls…’ is such a continually relevant work about womanhood and sisterhood.
You’re not only the executive director of Theatre in the X, but you’re also on stage as Lady in Brown. Can you talk a bit about your character and what drew you to this role?
I performed in this production as Lady in Blue back in 2008 and I was very excited to see where our director, Cheyenne Barboza, would cast me in this production. I was surprised and excited to be cast as Lady in Brown. The creative team has described Lady in Brown as “Mighty, like an oak.” She is a leader and orchestrator of the play’s environment. She weaves in and out of the other women’s monologues and maintains a constant presence throughout the piece even when not speaking.
How does being part of the cast shape the way you experience this production compared with leading from behind the scenes?
When I’m not in a production, I’m in the rehearsal room a lot less and get to experience the element of surprise as the show comes together. It’s a different kind of excitement to be in the room engaging creatively with the work. I get to see and work firsthand with all the nuance that comes together for the grand reveal that is the final showings in Malcolm X Park. I also get to see the artists at work and personally be a part of the creative developments, which makes the massive administrative work that I do even more rewarding.
Theatre in the X makes theatre free and accessible. In what ways does this story reflect that mission and resonate well in an outdoor community setting?
Part of our mission is to produce professional-quality theater that resonates with the Black community and West Philadelphia audiences. Ntozake Shange spent time in West Philly. This story is still entirely relevant and resonates with womanhood and sisterhood today. As we’ve gone through the rehearsal process, we’re often pulled into the cast’s personal stories that are similar to those of the Ladys.
The play’s format as a choreopoem lends itself so well to an outdoor and community setting.
Primarily monologues, with some group scenes, interspersed with music and dance, it lends itself very well to both the person who comes purposefully with their lawn chair to watch the whole production, the person who wanders upon the park mid-show and watches a few scenes, and the person who’s there with their child and making their way back and forth between the playground and the stage. All of those people will have varying complete experiences within the many little stories told.
Director Cheyenne Barboza has described the production as creating a ‘Sister Sanctuary.’ What do you hope audiences experience as they gather together in Malcolm X Park?
I hope they see within the Ladys, themselves, or their sister, or their mother, and are reminded of or introduced to the power, resilience, and joy of womanhood and sisterhood.
The cast features longtime Theatre in the X collaborators as well as new artists. How does that blend of talent elevate the rehearsal process and, ultimately, the production?
The rehearsal room feels so beautiful! We have all quickly become friends. The beauty of mixing our longtime collaborators with new and younger artists is that we gain varying perspectives on life experience from the cast, which is crucial since Shange wrote seven very different women. Like myself, a few of the actresses have performed in the piece before, in characters different than they are cast as this time, so they get the challenge of embodying a new color, which brings in past expertise on this very special work.
After more than a decade of Theatre in the X, is there something that continues to inspire you about the company’s work and its connection to the community?
Seeing Malcolm X Park filled with people who range from consistent theatergoers to first-time theater attendees, to people who are there accidentally is such a proud feeling for us. The quieting down of the entire audience outside when they are intently listening, the uproarious laughter of the crowd when something is funny, hearing audience members talk back to the stage, continually remind us that the community trusts and is connected to us.
For some people, our Malcolm X Park shows are the only theater they ever see. That is huge! I’m so inspired by the community’s dedication to supporting us and the work our artists are able to do in the extremely non-traditional venue.
‘For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf’ shows take place Aug. 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. and Aug. 22 and 23 at 5 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs. For more information, visit theatreinthex.com.
MORE: Philadelphia Theatre Company leans into stories of family and legacy in new season
Keywords
Theatre in the X,
For Colored Girls,
Malcolm X Park,
West Philadelphia,
Ntozake Shange,
Philadelphia theater,
free theater,
LaNeshe Miller-White,
Cheyenne Barboza,
arts and culture