Staff Pick
Ntozake Shange, author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf (returning to Broadway April 2022), is a remarkable writer whose works truly take on a life and form of their own. With originality and real heart, Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo follows three sisters through their journeys finding themselves and learning to love themselves and others. An absolute gem. Recommended By Alexis B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Ntozake Shange's beloved Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is the story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston, South Carolina. Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother before her. Having gone north to college, she is now living with other artists in Los Angeles and trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories and dreams. Cypress, the dancer, leaves home to find new ways of moving in the world. Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of Charleston—"too much of the south in her"—who lives in poetry and has the supreme gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world. Shange's rich and wondrous story of womanhood, art, and passionately-lived lives is written "with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message” (The New York Times).
Review
“Shanges wit, lyricism and fierceness are marvelous.”
-The New York Times
“A jubilant celebration of womanhood—as moving as the moon…pure magic.”
-Kansas City Star
“A marvel… Languages—colloquial, established, lyric—play together like the most lush chamber music, the coolest jazz, the brassiest marches, the hippest jug band… It leaves us filled with joy and yearning for more.”
-Philadelphia Inquirer
“Possessed of poetry, motion, and light… Shanges tale is poignant, surprising, and deep as she looks as the different worlds of women and their special places therein.”
-Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Ntozake Shange's beloved Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is the story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston, South Carolina. Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother before her. Having gone north to college, she is now living with other artists in Los Angeles and trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories and dreams. Cypress, the dancer, leaves home to find new ways of moving in the world. Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of Charleston-"too much of the south in her"-who lives in poetry and has the supreme gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world. Shange's rich and wondrous story of womanhood, art, and passionately-lived lives is written "with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message" (The New York Times).
Synopsis
Ntozake Shange's beloved Sassafrass, Cypress & Indigo is the story of three sisters and their mother from Charleston, South Carolina.
"A jubilant celebration of womanhood--as moving as the moon . . . pure magic." --Kansas City Star
Sassafrass, the oldest, is a poet and a weaver like her mother before her. Having gone north to college, she is now living with other artists in Los Angeles and trying to weave a life out of her work, her man, her memories and dreams. Cypress, the dancer, leaves home to find new ways of moving in the world. Indigo, the youngest, is still a child of Charleston-"too much of the south in her"-who lives in poetry and has the supreme gift of seeing the obvious magic of the world. Shange's rich and wondrous story of womanhood, art, and passionately-lived lives is written "with such exquisite care and beauty that anybody can relate to her message" (The New York Times).
About the Author
NTOZAKE SHANGE is a renowned playwright, poet, and novelist. Her works includes Some Sing, Some Cry, the Obie Award-winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Betsey Brown and Liliane. Among her honors and awards are fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and a Pushcart Prize. Tony and Grammy Award-nomiated Shange is a graduate of Barnard and recipient of a Masters in American Studies from University of Southern California. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.