The Burst of the Suffocated Voices of African American Women: Adrienne Kennedy, Ntozake Shange, Aishah Rahman,alexis De Veaux

The book concentrates on plays which can be considered hallmarks in the African-American theatre. It focuses on four dramas written by four African-American women as representatives of African-American woman's theatre: Adreinne Kennedy's Funnyhouse of a Negro (1964), Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf (1974), Aishah Rahman's Unfinished Woman Cry in No Man's Land, While a Bird Dies in a Gilded Cage (1977), and Alexis De Veaux's The Tapestry (1975). Their journey progresses from the recognition of pain to its verbalization and subsequently to self ?affirmation. They discuss such controversial issues as abortion, sexuality, female empowerment, while challenging obstacles like racism, sexism and gender stereotypes. The four dramatists tackled their inner sufferings from different angles. Whereas Kennedy's play, Funnyhouse of the Negro, represents death as its final image, Shange's For Colored Girls ends with the heroines' dance to celebrate their real identities in life. Rahman, on the other hand, presents both birth and death at the end of the play. De Veaux adds a new aspect to her play; that is hope.