THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 1, 1995 TAG: 9503010465
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
This is not your typical play.
A choral poem is what they call the production by the University Players of Elizabeth City State University with the nearly paragraph-long title, ``For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf.''
The title tells quite a bit about what is going on onstage. The subjects of the offering, playing March 1, 2, 3 and 5, are black women, and pain.
``It was written in 1974 but it's so timely it's almost frightening,'' said Leon Rouson, the director. ``I guess pain doesn't change.''
The play, a successful on and off-Broadway production, is usually directed by a woman.
``This is a twist for me, directing a show about the life and realities - the pain - of black women,'' Rouson said. ``It's a real challenge, but fun and interesting.''
It is interesting enough to have enticed about 20 young women to audition for the five roles in the play.
Rouson went with local stage veterans Trenace Nicole Payton, Tresha R. Griffin, Regina M. Reddick, Coleen M. Santos and Nikita Sutton.
They expect to bring life to the narrative pieces hailed by the New York Post as ``a triumphant event, filled with humor.''
The playwright, Ntozake Shange, was the recipient of many other words of praise. The New York Daily News called her production, ``overwhelming. It's joyous and alive, affirmative in the face of despair.''
The women face everything from rape to unrequited love, telling their stories in prose and poetry, passionately and courageously.
Directing the choral poem is a labor of love for Rouson. He has done some acting ``but I prefer to be a director. It gives me an opportunity to create moods, feelings and expressions.
``It really gives me a chance to be creative, to reach out to people,'' said Rouson, who is 34, single and a graduate of North Carolina Central University in Durham.
He majored in math and minored in theater, interests held over from John A. Holmes High School in Edenton. He is a 1979 graduate.
``I was active in drama. Sandy Boyce was my mentor when she was there,'' he said, referring to the director of drama at College of the Albemarle.
Rouson, who is director of ECSU's Math and Science Education Network Pre-College Program, describes the play as ``a strong play with a strong message and strong language.
``There was a bit of editing to tone it down,'' he said, ``but it is very real and people accept a certain amount of harsh language if the situation is real.'' MEMO: THEATER PREVIEW
The University Players of Elizabeth City State University present
``For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is
Enuf'' at 8p.m. March 1, 2, 3 and 5 in the Little Theatre.
Admission is $4 for the public, $1 for ECSU students, $1.50 for ECSU
faculty and staff. For information, call 335-3436. by CNB