An octoroon
Book • 2015
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's "An Octoroon" is a provocative and complex play that reimagines a 19th-century melodrama.
It tackles themes of race, slavery, and performance, using satire and unsettling imagery to challenge audience expectations.
The play's staging of a slave auction often elicits strong reactions from viewers, highlighting the uncomfortable realities of the past.
Its meta-theatrical elements and its exploration of the legacy of slavery make it a significant work in contemporary American theater.
The play's enduring power lies in its ability to spark dialogue and confront audiences with difficult truths.
It tackles themes of race, slavery, and performance, using satire and unsettling imagery to challenge audience expectations.
The play's staging of a slave auction often elicits strong reactions from viewers, highlighting the uncomfortable realities of the past.
Its meta-theatrical elements and its exploration of the legacy of slavery make it a significant work in contemporary American theater.
The play's enduring power lies in its ability to spark dialogue and confront audiences with difficult truths.
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Mentioned by Carrie J. Preston as an example of a play that uses audience participation to challenge complacency.
Carrie J. Preston, "Complicit Participation: The Liberal Audience for Theater of Racial Justice" (Oxford UP, 2024)
