Ntozake Shange was born in 1948, in Trenton, New Jersey. She was a poet, performance artist, playwright, and novelist. In the Zulu dialect Xhosa, her name roughly translated means “Ntozake” (“she who comes into her own things”) “Shange” (“she who walks like a lion”). Her works - poems and plays - mainly spoke about the pain and struggle women face because of racism and sexism.
From Okra to Greens - a play by Ntozake Shange
Shange’s From Okra to Greens draws together and expands on the themes of her earlier play scripts. The discovery by the lovers Okra and Greens of the beauty and strength—the god—within the individual is an enlightenment to them. The lovers also discover what is sacred— the fullness and color of life rather than a narrow minded outlook to life.
In the opening scenes of From Okra to Greens, Greens speaks of Okra’s situation as a single black woman as Okra comes into the role. In the play, Shange turns her poetry into staged drama. She presents verbatim much of the poetry of her collection A Daughter’s Geography. Although her feminist ideas were dramatized by women, here her protests were given voice by the male character Greens. Thus there is sync between the lovers in not just matters of heart but of strong minds as well.
Shange’s Okra and Greens celebrates the richness of African American life.
Shange’s From Okra to Greens draws together and expands on the themes of her earlier play scripts. The discovery by the lovers Okra and Greens of the beauty and strength—the god—within the individual is an enlightenment to them. The lovers also discover what is sacred— the fullness and color of life rather than a narrow minded outlook to life.
In the opening scenes of From Okra to Greens, Greens speaks of Okra’s situation as a single black woman as Okra comes into the role. In the play, Shange turns her poetry into staged drama. She presents verbatim much of the poetry of her collection A Daughter’s Geography. Although her feminist ideas were dramatized by women, here her protests were given voice by the male character Greens. Thus there is sync between the lovers in not just matters of heart but of strong minds as well.
Shange’s Okra and Greens celebrates the richness of African American life.
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