The Yard Theatre Announces Full Cast for Ntozake Shange's 'For Colored Girls Who Have

Today, The Yard Theatre announces the full cast for the revival of Ntozake Shange’s celebrated choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf, directed by Diane Page. 2026 marks fifty years since the play’s premiere; the original production went on to run on Broadway for two years. The production runs at The Yard Theatre, from 2 September - 3 October 2026.

The cast includes Tatenda Naomi Matsvai (cow | deer, Royal Court; Alice in Wonderland; Brixton House), Nadine Higgin (Mother Courage And Her Children, Shakespeare’s Globe; Ballet Shoes, National Theatre), Cherrelle Skeete (The Authenticator, National Theatre; Alterations, National Theatre), Alex Thomas-Smith (What It Feels Like For a Girl, Too Much) and Ibilola Rossi (NCIS, The Midwich Cuckoos).

A landmark of theatre. Long overdue in London.

Stories of love and violence, joy and survival - and what it feels like to come out the other side.

Ntozake Shange's choreopoem returns - fifty years on from its first performance - in a new production, directed by Diane Page, with original music by Jammz.

Grief becomes chant. Movement becomes prayer. Together, they reach for something beyond.

Fifty years on. Still enuf.

The Costume Designer is Cat Fuller, the Associate Costume Designer and Supervisor is Mio Jue, the Choreographer is Ingrid Mackinnon, the Choreography Associate is Rudzani Moleya, the Composer is Jammz, the Sound Designer is Esther Kehinde Ajayi, and the Lighting Designer is Ali Hunter. The voice and dialect coach is Aundrea Fudge, with casting by Heather Basten CDG.

Alongside the production, The Yard has programmed a series of late nights and events

• Writer’s Night, Thursday 10 September.
• A late-night conversation with writers from theatre, film, TV and poetry on what Ntozake Shange did to the canon, and what’s been done with it since. Included with a ticket to that evening’s performance.

• ‘NUFF, Friday 11 September.
• A club night curated by Jammz featuring an all-femme line-up of grime artists, composer of the production original music. Tickets sold separately.

• Black Out Night: Femmes, Thursday 17 September.
• A performance of for colored girls… for an audience of Black femmes, following previous Black Out nights at The Yard.

• Diane Page x Bernadine Evaristo, Thursday 24 September.
• The director in conversation with the Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, other, hosted by Wema Mumma. Included with a ticket to that evening’s performance.

• Film Club, Friday 25 September.
• Short films programmed to sit alongside the production. Tickets sold separately.

for colored girls… marks the grand reopening of The Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick, East London. The new building is designed from scratch by RIBA award-winning Takero Shimazaki Architects, on the site of the original warehouse venue that Artistic Director Jay Miller and fifty volunteers converted into a theatre in 2011. It now has a 220-seat curved auditorium and is more than twice the size of the original.

“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.” Artistic Director Jay Miller in The Guardian

This production is generously supported by Cockayne - Grants for the Arts and London Community Foundation. With special thanks to the Yard’s season circle, Carolyn Ward, Fiona Clements, Georgia Oetker, and those who wish to remain anonymous.