Ntozake Shange, Trailblazing Playwright of For Colored Girls..., Dies at 70

Ntozake Shange, a celebrated poet and playwright who made her mark on Broadway with the Tony-nominated For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, died on October 27 at an assisted living facility in Bowie, MD. The news of Shange's death was announced on her official Twitter page. According to the Associated Press, Shange died in her sleep; she had suffered a number of strokes in 2004. Shange was 70.

Shange's acclaimed For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf follows seven black women who have experienced racism, sexism, violence and rape. The play was first produced by off-Broadway's Public Theater in 1976, directed by Oz Scott and featuring Shange in the cast. The play took home a 1977 Obie Award for Distinguished Production, transferring to Broadway's Booth Theatre and earning a Tony nomination for Best Play, with Trazana Beverley winning the 1977 Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

In 1977, Shange adapted For Colored Girls... into a book and in 2000 the play received an off-Broadway revival directed by George Faison, earning a 2001 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Revival. Tyler Perry wrote and directed a 2010 screen adaptation of the work, featuring a cast including Kerry Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, Anika Noni Rose, Loretta Devine, Janet Jackson, Phylicia Rashad and Macy Gray.

Shange's other off-Broadway credits include A Photograph (1977), Spell #7 (1979), a new adaptation of Mother Courage and Her Children (1980) (earning Shange an Obie Award), Love's Fire: Fresh Numbers by Seven American Playwrights (1988) and Urban Zulu Mambo (2001). Shange received an Emmy nomination for co-writing the television special An Evening with Diana Ross (1977).

Shange is survived by her daughter, Savannah, and granddaughter, Harriet.