Women gathered in a sculptural collective tableau during Silenced No More.
Silenced No More · Artistic work

For Colored Girls

i dont wanna write /
in english or spanish /
i wanna sing /
make you dance / scream

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf moved through Silenced No More in Kenya with a hotter pulse: our whole body /
wrapped like a ripe mango /
ramblin whippin thru space /
push your leg to the moon with me

PlaywrightNtozake Shange
Executive ProducerMichael Omoke
DirectorCheryl J. Williams
Fragments of the choreopoem

i usedta be in the world /
a woman in the world /
i hadda right to the world

i cant be nice to nobody /
nice is such a rip-off /
regular beauty & a smile in the street /
is just a set-up

women relinquish all personal rights /
in the presence of a man /
who apparently cd be considered a rapist /
especially if he has been considered a friend

a woman in the worlddance / screamripe mango bodyno more niceraw witnessby invitation / a frienda woman in the worlddance / screamripe mango bodyno more niceraw witnessby invitation / a friend
Scene one

Whole body, no apology

our whole body /
wrapped like a ripe mango /
ramblin whippin thru space /
swing your head /
push your leg to the moon with me

Women in colored dresses rising together in a celebratory circle.
The full ensemble gathered close in a tableau of listening and support.
Scene two

No more nice

i cant be nice to nobody /
nice is such a rip-off /
regular beauty & a smile in the street /
is just a set-up

Two women in blue and green dresses meeting hand to hand.

a friend is hard to press charges against /
if you know him /
you must have wanted it /
a misunderstanding /
you know /
these things happen

women relinquish all personal rights /
in the presence of a man /
who apparently cd be considered a rapist /
especially if he has been considered a friend

A woman in green smiling from the side of the stage.
Scene three

A woman in the world

i usedta be in the world /
a woman in the world /
i hadda right to the world /
for the set-up /
a universe /
six blocks of cruelty

A woman in yellow laughing in close-up.
A woman in orange making a graceful gesture.
A woman in green speaking with another woman blurred in the foreground.
Scene four

Dance / scream / refuse

i wanna sing /
make you dance /
like the bata /
dance /
scream

The ensemble moving across the stage in colored dresses.
Close dance image of the ensemble in vivid dresses.
Woman in yellow smiling as the group dances around her.
Special photographic credit

Saiba Sehmi

Project Photographer

Saiba Sehmi’s photographic eye holds the production with unusual calm and intimacy. Her images do not simply record stage action; they preserve atmosphere, relation, and the quiet voltage between women before gesture becomes event.

This page carries her presence with intention. The production’s sensual visual memory owes much to the softness, precision, and compositional intelligence of her lens.

Portrait of Saiba Sehmi, project photographer.
Credits

Cast & creative team

The stage ensemble and the women who helped shape the work around it.

Actors

Lady in Brown
Mbeki Mwalimu
Lady in Purple
Nini Wacera
Lady in Blue
Rebecca Langley
Lady in Yellow
Melissa Kiplagat
Lady in Red
Marianne Nungo
Lady in Orange
Wanjiku-Victoria Seest
Lady in Green
Tana Gachoka

Core production

Executive Producer · Artistic Director
Michael Omoke
Director
Cheryl J. Williams
Assistant Producer
Anna Marie B. Skanborg
Director of Logistics
Julisa Rowe
Assistant Logistics
Sakina Mildred
Choreographer
Ondiegi Mathew
Lighting Designer
Charles Stephen
Costume Director
Vicki L. Jones

Visual & communications

Project Photographer
Saiba Sehmi
Social Media
Ramya Sehmi
Graphic Designer
Aïcha E. Haidara
Public Relations
Angela Mutegi
Web Developer
Elisha Ngoma
Women around the work

Extended creative circle

Five women whose work helped frame how the production was seen, carried, and encountered in the world beyond the stage image itself.

Portrait of Ramya Sehmi.

Ramya Sehmi

Social Media

Portrait of Aïcha Haidara.

Aïcha E. Haidara

Graphic Designer

Portrait of Angela Mutegi.

Angela Mutegi

Public Relations

Portrait of Vicki L. Jones.

Vicki L. Jones

Costume Designer