It came as little surprise that Jeremy O. Harris’s 2018 production of Slave Play moved to Broadway less than a year after its premiere. There was a real clamor to see their first performance at the 198-seat New York Theater Workshop, which critics described as “deliberately provocative, flamboyantly transgressive and utterly surprising” and “wildly inventive.” The show was extended and all shows were sold out.
When it opened on Broadway a short time later for a limited 17-week run, reviews remained as compelling as the show’s premise: The Slave Play, about three interracial couples who attend pre-Civil War (pre-Civil War) sex therapy (costumes included) when the partner stops being attracted to the white partner. Their conversations touch on everything from desire to power to trauma to academic rigor, and the result is a work of extreme, utterly thrilling work.
Harris’s play is now moving to the West End and will run at the Noël Coward Theater from June 29 to September 21, starring Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington. The cast and content suggest it will likely be one of the most talked about games of the year. Here’s everything else you need to know.
What is this about?
Written by Harris, 35, who is black and gay, while he was still at the Yale School of Drama, Slave Play is a kind of period drama about three couples undergoing sex therapy. Black partners are no longer sexually attracted to their white partners, and Harris looks at the reasons behind this. This exploration delves deep into the psyches of the characters, each of whom has a variety of physical and emotional disorders.
Surprisingly, some scenes feature both partners wearing clothes their ancestors wore in the Plantation Age, and scenes feature scenes depicting slaves and slave owners in pre-war therapy, barking orders and then having sex.
“It subverts the historical fantasies of a noble South purified from the horrors of slavery that are firmly entrenched in American culture (monuments, textbooks, films, etc.) by replacing them with strange fantasies accompanied by excessively cerebral examinations. repercussions of racism,” one critic explained.
Another said: “Slave Play challenges both the characters and the audience with the question: What does it really mean to be black in a relationship with a white partner? Does the history of slavery continue to influence gender and power between these groups, and how? If so, who holds whom accountable?” ”
How was the game received?
Reviews of Harris’ play have been polarized. Some found the material deeply moving, thought-provoking, and wonderful: “No piece of theater in recent times has had such a shocking impact as Jeremy O. Harris’s Slave Play,” said the Los Angeles Times.
Nominated for 12 Tony awards and not yet a graduate when Slave Play Off premiered on Broadway, Harris quickly became one of America’s most sought-after writers (she produced and co-wrote A24’s Zola in 2021). Independent Spirit Award nomination for best screenplay).
However, Slave Play faced some backlash. In its 2018 review, The Guardian argued that although the play admirably aims to put the sexual fantasies of white people under the spotlight, it “may offer another platform for white people to caress themselves while also gazing at black bodies subjected to physical and sexual violence.” back to “survive” the experience.
Others agreed or protested, and a petition was even created on Change.org to stop the game; its creator wrote: “This was one of the most disrespectful displays of anti-Black sentiment disguised as art I have ever seen. As a Black woman, I was deeply disturbed and traumatized by the graphic images mixed with laughter from the predominantly white audience.”
“Although the play’s writer and director were Queer Black men, it was harsh in its portrayal of slavery and Black sexuality, and specifically targeted Black women. Slavery and its widespread consequences that still affect the descendants of chattel slavery in the United States are not funny, and I am extremely disappointed that everyone involved thought this was a convenient tool to challenge the status quo in race relations. The petition received 6,433 signatures.
But for others, the best theater provokes intense debate, and Harris more than lived up to that expectation: “The best plays are not just about empathizing with the oppressed; they are also about acknowledging our connection to oppressors,” said one critic. “With an approach that is both harsh and loving, Slave Game allows us all to see ourselves in the racial chaos in America.”
Black Out performance controversy
Slave Play also made headlines in the UK after it announced that two nights of its three-month run at the Noël Coward Theater would be Black Out performances. These are performances to which only black-identifying audiences are invited. And while no one can be legally barred from attending, non-Black theater fans generally don’t go to these special events.
A grassroots movement reportedly coined by Harris – the first Black Out night took place in the US in September 2019 – Black Out nights have become a more regular occurrence here. With three-quarters of Broadway audiences being white (according to a 2018 report), the goal is clearly to create a space that is more welcoming to diverse audiences.
But in the UK, where the National Portfolio Organization (funded by the Arts Council) says 93 per cent of theatergoers in 2021/21 are white, these Black Out nights have been met with some backlash. Former Standard culture editor Nancy Durrant wrote about the issue for the Standard last May, after Theater Royal Stratford East planned a performance of Black Out for the play Tambo & Bones.
“I don’t think I would call this an act of racism,” he said. “I guess I characterize it as an opportunity for members of an undeniably oppressed group to experience together something that has been made with them in mind, and to explore the questions around it without worrying about offending or offending the feelings of group members. again, a group that undeniably oppresses themselves or their predecessors.
But this time, perhaps due to the high profile of Slave Play, the issue made national headlines with the weight of Downing Street. “The Prime Minister is a big supporter of the arts and believes the arts should be inclusive and open to everyone, especially where there are art lovers. Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said arts venues benefit from public funding. “But explicitly restricting audiences based on race would be wrong and divisive.”
Harris told BBC Sounds: “For me, as someone who wants and longs for black and brown people to be in theatre, who wants theater to feel like theater for people who come from working-class backgrounds, who aren’t making six figures, it’s a dream to make room for them.” It is a must to radically invite them with initiatives that say, ‘You are invited,’ especially you.”
What did Jeremy O. Harris say?
Jeremy O. Harris talked about creating new spaces for black and queer artists in theater.
“It’s really humbling and exciting for a work like this to go to Broadway, but it’s also raw,” he told the Guardian. “There’s a lot of different emotions for me because there’s a history on Broadway and I’m not actually a part of it or people like me aren’t actually a part of it. You can probably count on your right hand the number of black gay men and women who have had successful Broadway careers.
Speaking to ES Magazine last week, he said: “Theatre is my religion. I read a lot of plays when I was growing up. And now, for me, writing plays, like some monks, is like writing little prayers to myself.”
Meanwhile, Robert O’Hara, who has directed every version of Slave Play and will also direct the West End adaptation, has previously admitted that the play was “incredibly triggering”.
Kit Harington starring
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, 37, is among the leads in the West End run. He has previously appeared on stage in the National Theatre’s War Horse, The Vote and Henry V at the Donmar and Doctor Faustus in the West End.
She will be joined by Fisayo Akinade (Cucumber), Aaron Heffernan (Brassic) and Olivia Washington (I am a Virgo and the daughter of Denzel Washington), as well as original Broadway cast members James Cusati-Moyer, Chalia La Tour, Annie McNamara and Irene Sofia Lucio.
However, Harris criticized some theaters casting celebrities to attract audiences.
Explaining that he agreed to cast Harington, Harris said: “This is something that takes away from great theater because people treat it like a Disney World attraction; the play is the backdrop to the fun of seeing their favorite celebrity in front of them.” Kit was saying, ‘I don’t want this to be ‘Kit Harington in Slave Play’, it’s an ensemble play and I’m not even the lead.’
“He understands the weight his name carries and how distracting it can become if we let it.”
Slave Play, Noel Coward Theatre, 29 June – 21 September; noelcowardtheatre.co.uk