The Yard Theatre has added two weeks to its revival of Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem, which now runs to 17 October and reopens the rebuilt Hackney Wick venue.
The Yard Theatre has extended for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf by two weeks. Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem, in a revival directed by Diane Page, now runs from 2 September to 17 October 2026, with press night on Tuesday 8 September at 7pm. The theatre cites demand.
The timing carries some weight for the building as well as the play. This is the production reopening The Yard after a rebuild by Takero Shimazaki Architects on the site of the Hackney Wick warehouse that Jay Miller and fifty volunteers converted in 2011 on a six-month lease. The new house seats 220 in a curved auditorium, more than twice the size of the original, built with brick reused from the old one.
Shange’s piece was first performed fifty years ago and ran on Broadway for two years. Miller has argued it belongs in the canon and is not there — that it “should be up there with the Sarah Kanes, the Caryl Churchills”.
The cast is Tatenda Naomi Matsvai, last seen in cow | deer at the Royal Court, Nadine Higgin, who was in Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre, Cherrelle Skeete of The Authenticator and Alterations, Alex Thomas-Smith and Ibilola Rossi.
Original music is by Jammz, with choreography by Ingrid Mackinnon, costume design by Cat Fuller, lighting by Ali Hunter, sound by Esther Kehinde Ajayi and casting by Heather Basten.
A run of late nights and events sits alongside the performances: a Writer’s Night on Thursday 10 September; ‘nuff, a club night curated by Jammz with an all-femme grime line-up, on Friday 11 September; a Black Out Night for Black femmes on Thursday 17 September; Page in conversation with Bernardine Evaristo on Thursday 24 September; and a Film Club on Friday 25 September. The Writer’s Night and the Evaristo talk are included with a ticket to that evening’s performance; the club night and Film Club are ticketed separately.
Tickets are £10 and up, with concessions for over-65s, under-27s, students, those out of work and audiences with access needs. Under-27s can also get £5 seats on the door through the theatre’s No Empty Seats scheme, which has run since 2017.
for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf runs at The Yard Theatre, Queen’s Yard, Hackney Wick, from Wednesday 2 September to Saturday 17 October 2026, with press night on Tuesday 8 September.
