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    Slave Play
    Slave Play
    Slave Play
    Ebook186 pages1 hour

    Slave Play

    By Jeremy O. Harris

    4.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    “The single most daring thing I’ve seen in a theater in a long time.” — Wesley Morris, New York Times

    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 twenty-first-century America.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTheatre Communications Group
    Release dateFeb 11, 2020
    ISBN9781559369343
    Slave Play
    Author

    Jeremy O. Harris

    Jeremy O. Harris is a playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and actor. His plays include Slave Play; "Daddy" A Melodrama; Xander Xyst, Dragon: 1; and 'WATER SPORTS'; or insignificant white boys. He co-wrote A24's film Zola with director Janicza Bravo.

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    Reviews for Slave Play

    4.5/5

    47 ratings5 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be a deeply provocative play that asks uncomfortable questions about black and white identities. It is a brave and startling work that deserves the status of a modern classic. While some readers have questions about the third act, overall it is a thought-provoking and important piece of theatre.

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Jeremy O. Harris reminds us all what theatre is. If this play does not sit with you for at least a week, read it again.
    • 5/5
      To say too much about Slave Play would be to spoil it. It needs to be read - or preferably seen - without any prior knowledge about its subject matter. All I will say is this is a deeply provocative play that asks very uncomfortable questions, but questions that are absolutely necessary to understanding black and white identities and how they co-exist. A brave, startling play that deserves the status of a modern classic.
    • 5/5
      Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
    • 4/5
      It definitely kept me reading, but I think I have a lot more questions than answers...especially about the third act. Glad to be able to read it though!
    • 5/5
      Read and saw the broadway production and Jeremy is a genuine genius of his time. Makes you understand what interracial couples are going through, and if they aren’t asking these questions, are they really helping move past the pain, or adding to it.

    Book preview

    Slave Play - Jeremy O. Harris

    ACT 1

    Work

    The lights slowly rise on the cramped quarters of the MacGregor Plantation’s overseer’s cottage.

    A metal framed bed with a feather mattress sits in a room to the side of a large open space that houses a nineteenth-century bachelor’s kitchen and a table full of fruits and vegetables in a basket with two chairs before a large black bear-skin rug.

    We watch as Kaneisha, a slave, casually (and badly) sweeps the floor of the open living area. Looking down and over distrustfully at the bear-skin rug between broom strokes.

    Suddenly, from above, Rihanna’s Work begins to play.

    Kaneisha looks up, as though in recognition, a smile appearing then disappearing from her face—she goes back to sweeping. Work, work, work, work, work.

    Yet soon the sounds of this faraway island girl get beneath her skin, in her spine, her legs, her bottom, and she is dancing. More specifically, she is twerking and suddenly the broom is out of her hand and on the floor. Work, work, work, work, work.

    Her ass moves up and down in revelry as she hikes up her coarse cotton dress and bends into a dutty wine. Work, work, work, work, work.

    Her hands move up to the scarf that wraps her impressive natural afro and she frees her hair of its clutches. Suddenly Drake is singing and she’s on the ground … You need to get done, done, done. She throws her hands before her and begins to pop—her staccato undulation in perfect time with Drake’s delivery.

    Behind her a door opens and standing in the light of the bright Virginia sun is Jim, the overseer, in overalls and a straw hat, holding a large thick whip. He stares at her for a moment before clearing his throat.

    The music abruptly shuts off and Kaneisha is still there pop pop pop pop-ing.

    JIM

    KANEISHA!

    The hell you doin?

    (With an inhalation Kaneisha is up and staring back at Jim—prey before predator. She puts the scarf back on her head, hiding away her hair.)

    KANEISHA

    Oh lord …

    …

    uh …

    …

    …

    I’s sorry Massa Jim.

    …

    …

    Somethin jus came ova

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