It stunned audiences with a sold-out run at New York Theatre Workshop. Now, Slave Play is coming to Broadway. Written by Jeremy O. Harris, "one of the most promising playwrights of his generation" (Vogue), this "dazzling mix of satire and psychodrama" (The New York Times) is directed by two-time NAACP and OBIE Award winner Robert O'Hara.
The Old South lives on at the MacGregor Plantation - in the breeze, in the cotton fields... and in the crack of the whip. Nothing is as it seems, and yet everything is as it seems. Slave Play rips apart history to shed new light on the nexus of race, gender, and sexuality in 21st-century America.
Uptown, his staging has grown broader and funnier but no less trenchant in the 800-seat Golden than it was in a space one-quarter the size; the continuous embroidering of marvelous detail fills any gaps that might have opened in the expansion. (Watch Phillip take refuge under his hoodie when he gets overwhelmed, or Alana scramble after her notebook as if it might protect her from what she's learning.) The returning cast - especially Mr. Cusati-Moyer as the boyfriend who pathetically insists he is not as white as he looks - has likewise amped up the emotional volume; they have a bigger house to bring down. Their performances make that of the only new cast member - Ms. Kalukango - even more distinct and grave by comparison. As Kaneisha becomes the center of the play's argument, you see her struggle to express herself playing out on her face before she has the words. When the words do come, they are all the more devastating.
Jeremy O. Harris' broad send-up of race and sex in America, 'Slave Play,' isn't outrageously funny. But it does have its funny moments - and it certainly is outrageous. In the very first scenes, we're confronted with three vignettes of seduction and copulation. For starters, a slave named Kaneisha (the abundantly talented Joaquina Kalukango) enthusiastically seduces Massa Jim (Paul Alexander Nolan), who prefers to be called Mista Jim, by throwing herself on the cabin floor and twerking.
2018 | Off-Broadway |
NYTW Off-Broadway World Premiere Off-Broadway |
2019 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2021 | Broadway |
Broadway Return Broadway |
West End |
West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Ato Blankson-Wood |
2020 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Play | Slave Play |
2020 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Joaquina Kalukango |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Dede Ayite |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Robert O'Hara |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jiyoun Chang |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score | Lindsay Jones |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Ato Blankson-Wood |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | James Cusati-Moyer |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Chalia La Tour |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Annie McNamara |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Joaquina Kalukango |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Jeremy O. Harris |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Clint Ramos |
2020 | Tony Awards | Best Sound Design of a Play | Lindsay Jones |
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