The Performing Arts Department’s series of plays from all-female playwrights continues Nov. 21 with the opening of “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf,” the 1975 choreopoem by Ntozake Shange.

The play, which explores the experiences of various 20th century Black women, is a “timeless American classic,” director Ron Himes said in an email to Student Life.

Dealing with love, identity, abuse, women’s empowerment and coming of age, Himes said, the show’s past productions have played to critical acclaim. “This play is a ‘women’s trip’ that still can empower women and let young Black women know that what they are experiencing is not something they have to do alone,” Himes said. The show has been performed across the country, including on Broadway, and is now at Wash. U. after the PAD’s production committee selected it for its fall lineup.

Sophomore Jenise Sheppard, who plays Lady in Blue, said that despite having been written in the 1970s, the play’s message and themes are still important today. “It’s very interesting to see our journey to maintain the relevance [of the play] because it is relevant today, but also to convey to people who aren’t dealing with and aren’t facing the same problems that these women in the 70s were facing has been a really fun challenge,” she said.

Christina Yancy, an intern for the Saint Louis Black Repertory Company (the Black Rep) who plays Lady in Brown in the show, agreed with Sheppard. “It’s been a fun experience to bring such a famous, legendary piece of work to the PAD for the first time,” Yancy said.

The show’s content encourages self-reflection. “I was able to learn a lot about myself through the text [of the play], and that’s definitely the intention of the show,” Sheppard said. “I think people in the audience will take even more away from seeing it and not having to embody the characters. You’ll see this real freedom to enjoy the show and real freedom just to be touched by the messages.”

Himes, the founder and producing director of the Black Rep, has directed the play three times in the past, but this is the first time he has worked with a student cast. “The biggest difference has been the age of the women and the life experiences that they brought to the process,” he said.

He also noted that the ability to work with levels onstage has distinguished this production of “for colored girls” from ones he has been involved with in the past. “I’ve always done it on a bare stage, so the pictures and movement patterns are quite different from previous productions,” he said.

The show opens Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. at the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre and will run through Sunday, with shows on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are free for Wash. U. students, $15 for Wash.U. faculty and staff, seniors and children and $20 for adults.