Classic Ntozake Shange play to be reissued in book form

NEW YORK (AP) — A classic play by the late Ntozake Shange is being reissued in book form in April to coincide with its Broadway revival by the director-choreographer Camille A. Brown.

Scribner announced Tuesday that Brown and award-winning novelist Jesmyn Ward will provide introductions for Shange’s choreopoem “for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf,” which first ran on Broadway in 1976. The book will include an additional poem never used in the text before and photographs from previous stagings of the play.

“Of all the shows to be given as an opportunity to debut as a first-time Broadway director and choreographer, ‘for colored girls …’ feels like a gift,” Brown said in a statement. “I’m thrilled that I’ve been entrusted to combine all the parts of myself — dance, music and theater arts — to shape and share this timeless story again with the world.”

Brown’s choreography for “Choir Boy” brought her a Tony nomination in 2019.

Russian radio station taken off air over Ukraine coverage

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian radio station critical of the Kremlin was taken off the airwaves on Tuesday, its chief editor said and the Associated Press confirmed, after authorities threatened to shut it down over the coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The move against Echo Moskvy, one of Russia’s oldest radio stations, comes amid growing pressure on Russia’s independent media to follow the Kremlin’s official line while covering the invasion of Ukraine.

Officials also threatened to block Dozhd, Russia’s top independent TV channel. The Prosecutor General’s office accused the two media outlets of spreading content that incites extremist activities, as well as “false information regarding the actions of Russian military personnel as part of a special operation” in Ukraine.

The Prosecutor General’s office said actions taken against the two outlets would include “immediate shutdown.” The websites of Ekho Moskvy and Dozhd remained available to internet users in Moscow on Tuesday evening.

Alexei Venedictov, chief editor of Ekho Moskvy, rejected the accusations, saying they “are not supported by any examples, any evidence, are unfounded and offensive to journalists and citizens of Russia.”

The station “will contest this decision in court,” Venediktov said.

“We see a political component in it, as well as the introduction of censorship, which is directly prohibited by the Russian Constitution,” he said.

Dozhd issued a statement rejecting the accusations against the TV channel, saying it “strictly follows Russian laws in its coverage.”