‘For colored girls’ review: Broadway play has lost its edge
nypost.comAn awkward question nags at audience members during the play “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf”: 90 minutes with no intermission.
At the Booth Theatre, 222 W 45th Street.Just how relevant is this show anymore?The sluggish revival of the 1976 drama, which opened Wednesday night on Broadway, doesn’t make a particularly compelling case for its up-to-the-minute-ness.
The play comes across, unfortunately, as an antiquated time machine that’s at odds with the current conversation. Being a glimpse into a specific, different era would be OK — plenty of revivals fit that bill — but “for colored girls” seems awfully intent on speaking forcefully to the present moment.
A strong connection to today, however, is nowhere to be found.Although women’s suffering — the main topic — has sadly never gone away, the manner in which it’s discussed in Ntozake Shange’s work is uncomfortably antiquated.For one, the poetry piece, which has been widely acclaimed through the years, is built around an old-school feminism that’s dependent on women loudly railing against men.
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