I'm seeing this on September 23. I know nothing about the show and purposely avoided reading spoilers, etc. I picked it because there was limited shows offered on a Monday night and it was an show for the new season.
LightsOut90 said: "can not wait to watch this show piss off people ?"
Besides that one petition from that person who clearly missed the point of the show, has anyone else (minus people who haven't seen it) really been pissed off? It's obviously controversial, but most push back from the show seems to be people who vaguely heard a synopsis and then decided the show was the issue, not any actual audience members.
I wonder how many Africans Americans that aren’t friends of anyone involved are genuinely fans of this show. Everything about this is offensive. There has to be a better way to tell a story than with twerking slaves. I know I know the playwright is black and gay, but he seems to have his own self hate issues.
kmissa said: "I wonder how many Africans Americans that aren’t friends of anyone involved are genuinely fans of this show. Everything about this is offensive. There has to be a better way to tell a story than with twerking slaves. I know I know the playwright is black and gay, but he seems to have his own self hate issues."
(eye roll) DoTheDood the folks you mentioned have arrived.
kmissa said: "I wonder how many Africans Americans that aren’t friends of anyone involved are genuinely fans of this show. Everything about this is offensive. There has to be a better way to tell a story than with twerking slaves. I know I know the playwright is black and gay, but he seems to have his own self hate issues."
Wait , there’s twerking slaves? I can’t wait now for Wednesday!
The people in this thread dismissing/demeaning someone who's self-identified themselves as both both black and someone who is offended by this piece are on a completely differently level of offensive. Who exactly do you think you are telling someone whose history this show is meant to dissect and examine that they're wrong for feeling a certain way....and, much worse to "gtfo"? Do you realize how riddled with racism that phrase is in this context?
The "idea" that inspired this play strikes me as so fundamentally dumb that I weep for our society. Maybe the world.
"I was like, 'I want to play this thought experiment with you. You identify as a male feminist, right?' And he was like, 'Yes.' And I was like, 'Great. Now if she was Black, would you feel as comfortable telling all of us about this in this way?' And the entire energy in the room changed immediately and he was like, 'Uh…' And I was like, 'What if she asked you to call her the N-word? Would you still tell us about that?' And he was like, 'Uh…uh…' And everyone was like, 'Well, that’s different.'
This isn't a thought experiment, and no one there was thinking, including the playwright. For a high school kid this may be thinking. For an adult, all answers should be painfully obvious.
I have no problem with the subject matter, I just thought the play was garbage. That being said, I hope we get a more diverse crowd of theater goers with this coming season.
This might come off not as I intend, but I’m kind of over the “race play.” I feel like there’s been an onslaught of slavery driven narratives, and none of them seem too interesting to me. I’d rather a good plot than a “message.” But maybe that’s just me.
I was at the invited dress last night, and before passing any judgement on the play itself, it really was an absolutely electric audience. There were about (I believe) 600 high school and college-aged students in the audience, and the energy was absurdly supportive without being disrespectful at any point. O'Harris also took the time to speak to numerous students in the Mezzanine, including a young man who I'd sat near, who had been sobbing through almost the entire latter quarter show. It was genuinely touching to see him interact with those students. I think it was really magical in that sense.
SouthernCakes said: "This might come off not as I intend, but I’m kind of over the “race play.” I feel like there’s been an onslaught of slavery driven narratives, and none of them seem too interesting to me. I’d rather a good plot than a “message.” But maybe that’s just me."
I don't think it is just you. There's a lot of people who don't want to go to the theater to be preached. Having said that, without actually watching a new work and reaching a conclusion for myself - I have not consistently been able to tell what a play is about. Most definitely not by reading reaction blurbs on this board or twitter. Stories and plays about communities, race, gender, and sexuality are very subjective; a play might have a "plot" for one person and might be a "lecture" to someone else. Art invokes different perspectives in different people. I for one don't think posts on this thread even remotely come close to what this play is actually about (for me). So essentially - I try not to let others' opinions color mine.
If you're able to decide that a play is not worth your time without watching it first, there's always the option of going to something else. It's your money. I understand not everyone can go to every show and they have to rely on blurbs/teasers to try and find what works for them. It's a process to learn what works for you.
To a more general reader (not a direct attack on anyone, please don't block me i'm very insecure lol) - I don't think you or anyone else should diss someone else's experience of what they got out of a particular show. I really disliked Groundhog Day, The Band's Visit, and Oklahoma!, but those shows clearly invoke a lot of strong positive feelings in other theater goers. How they feel about it doesn't make me feel any different, or vice versa - so what's the point in me dissing those who liked it?
kmissa said: "I wonder how many Africans Americans that aren’t friends of anyone involved are genuinely fans of this show. Everything about this is offensive. There has to be a better way to tell a story than with twerking slaves. I know I know the playwright is black and gay, but he seems to have his own self hate issues."
I have a question about this. I don't think you've seen the show if you believe there are twerking slaves. I think you've seen a clip of the show and interpreted something as being twerking slaves.
But here's the thing--I didn't like the show off-Broadway. I think it's ambitious and daring, but I don't believe its ambitions are met. It feels very much like the work of a young writer who is going to produce better work. I think there are ample reasons some could take offense with the show, but I worry that people taking offense based on the description of the show or certain images won't be offended for reasons that bear out. I don't think the play is above criticism AT ALL. But I DO worry that critiques from people who don't know the full arc of the show are going to be especially uninformed and therefore negatable.
This is a very difficult thing to try to say without spoilers, but I hope I've made at least some sense. In the end, for thoughtful conversation to happen about this show, there will need to be a space where people can post without worrying about any and all spoilers.
leighmiserables said: "I was at the invited dress last night, and before passing any judgement on the play itself, it really was an absolutely electric audience. There were about (I believe) 600 high school and college-aged students in the audience, and the energy was absurdlysupportive without being disrespectful at any point. O'Harris also took the time to speak to numerous students in the Mezzanine, including a young man who I'd sat near, whohad been sobbing through almost the entire latter quarter show. It was genuinely touching to see him interact with those students. I think it was really magical in that sense.
"
Well, obviously, that's the ideal audience for the material. It's "sexy" and "transgressive" and I guess they feel very up to the minute watching it. But...that is the response of what are basically kids.
joevitus said: "leighmiserables said: "I was at the invited dress last night, and before passing any judgement on the play itself, it really was an absolutely electric audience. There were about (I believe) 600 high school and college-aged students in the audience, and the energy was absurdlysupportive without being disrespectful at any point. O'Harris also took the time to speak to numerous students in the Mezzanine, including a young man who I'd sat near, whohad been sobbing through almost the entire latter quarter show. It was genuinely touching to see him interact with those students. I think it was really magical in that sense."
Well, obviously, that's the ideal audience for the material. It's "sexy" and "transgressive" and I guess they feel very up to the minute watching it. But...that is the response of what are basically kids."
And what's wrong with that? Those kids are not idiots, you know? Their intake of the play and reactions are just as valid as yours.
joined:7/20/13
joined:
7/20/13
Posted: 9/9/19 at 8:21pm