The Yard Theatre has announced the full cast for its revival of Ntozake Shange’s celebrated choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, which runs from 2 September to 3 October 2026.
The production marks fifty years since the work’s premiere. First staged in 1976, the groundbreaking play went on to enjoy a two-year run on Broadway and remains one of the most influential works of modern theatre.
Directed by JMK Award-winner Diane Page, the cast features Tatenda Naomi Matsvai, Nadine Higgin, Cherrelle Skeete, Alex Thomas-Smith and Ibilola Rossi.
The production is described as a story of love and violence, joy and survival, exploring what it means to emerge from grief and hardship. Original music is composed by Jammz.
The creative team includes Costume Designer Cat Fuller, Associate Costume Designer and Supervisor Mio Jue, Choreographer Ingrid Mackinnon, Choreography Associate Rudzani Moleya, Sound Designer Esther Kehinde Ajayi and Lighting Designer Ali Hunter. Aundrea Fudge serves as Voice and Dialect Coach, with casting by Heather Basten CDG.
Alongside the production, The Yard will host a programme of events including a Writers’ Night, the all-femme grime club night ‘NUFF curated by Jammz, a Black Out Night for Black femmes, a conversation between Diane Page and Booker Prize-winning author Bernadine Evaristo, and a Film Club screening programme.
The revival also marks the grand reopening of The Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick following a major capital redevelopment. The new venue, designed by RIBA award-winning Takero Shimazaki Architects, features a 220-seat curved auditorium and is more than twice the size of the original theatre.
Artistic Director Jay Miller said: “One of those plays that should be in our theatrical canon but isn’t, [for colored girls…] should be up there with the Sarah Kanes, the Caryl Churchills.”
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
