Branden Jacobs-Jenkins tackles Dion Boucicault’s infamous melodrama about Americans. (And slavery.) A bombastic, super-theatrical, full-scale investigation of that classic intersection of theatre and identity politics, this play with “real” actors, “real” sets, “real” costumes – and what might turn out to be a “real” slave auction – seeks to get to the bottom of why New York audiences can’t seem to get enough of plays about and racism and America.
Written and Directed by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, in collaboration with Johnson Henshaw and Allison Lyman; Producer: Johnson Henshaw; Dramaturg: Allison Lyman; Costume Design: Abigail Hahn; Sound Design: Jesse Rudoy; Make Up Design: John Carter; Light Design: Kevin Hardy; Assistant Director: Lacy Warner
Featuring: Travis York*, Chris Manley, Gabe Levey*, Jake Hart*, Margaret Flanagan*, Amber Gray*, Mary Wiseman, LaToya Lewis, Kim Gainer*, Sasheer Zamata
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a former playwriting fellow at the New York Theatre Workshop, an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and the Public Theater’s Emerging Writing Group, and a member of the ArsNova Playgroup. He is the recipient of the 2009 Princess Grace Award for Playwriting and the 2009 Dorothy Strelsin Playwriting Fellowship. His full-length plays include Appropriate, The Change, and Neighbors, which was presented in Feb 2010 as apart of the Public Theater’s PublicLab.
More about Boucicault’s The Octoroon: After immigrating to the United States, Boucicault’s The Octoroon premiered at one of New York City’s premier theaters in 1859, while the country was on the brink of the Civil War. The Octoroon became immensely popular and created one of the earliest occurrences in American popular theatre where the use of a popular entertainment such as the melodrama, created dialogue and controversy about contemporary societal issues; abolition, African Americans, and slavery in America.
Support for THE OCTOROON: AN ADAPTATION OF THE OCTOROON BASED ON THE OCTOROON has been provided by a Commission Grant from the Jerome Foundation and the Axe-Houghton Foundation.
*Appears courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association. “The Octoroon: An Adaptation of The Octoroon Based on the Octoroon” is an AEA Approved Showcase.
Photo: © Liz Liguori
World Premiere
Theater
Updated Schedule:
Saturday, June 26 – Saturday, July 3, 2010
Wed – Sat at 8, Sun at 6
Thursday Night Social: July 1st
$18, $15 (students/seniors)