I saw Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' "An Octoroon" for the second time on Friday. My first time was April of last year at the Soho Rep in Tribeca. That theatre is a small intimate space and if you've been reading my blog you know how I love SIS's (if not, read my previous posts about "Constellations" and "The River"). It is currently being staged in partnership with Soho Rep at Theatre for a New Audience in Brooklyn which, although not a huge space, is certainly not as intimate. The only actors who remain from the original production are Amber Gray as the Octoroon and the (uncredited) playwright himself in a mysterious role.
"The Octoroon," a melodrama by the Irish actor and playwright Dion Boucicault that opened at The Winter Garden in 1859, is here adapted as a play-within-a-play by a black playwright (representing BJJ) struggling to find his muse. We watch as BJJ and Boucicault meet and argue and begin to find themselves in character in the play-within-the-play. At Theatre for a New Audience I felt something was missing in the loss of intimacy as they drew us into their fictional world but they took it to the mat in the fast-paced, deliriously-giddy second act.
"An Octoroon" also references, consciously or unconsciously, the choreographer Donald Byrd's "Minstrel Show"(which I originally saw in it's incubation period at La Mama in the 80's and whose recent reincarnation was in Seattle last year) with it's black dancers in blackface confounding stereotypes.
Here black actors are in whiteface, white actors are in blackface and "redface" and most of the actors take on muliple roles. And they are an extraordinarily talented group. There is a scene at the end of the second act in which two characters battle each other, both played by the same actor. We forget that we are watching one actor in part due to the talent of the actor(s) but also to J. David Brimmer's impeccable fight direction. And the Rabbit... What can I say? The Rabbit is one of the most mystical, magical, mysterious creations ever to be encountered on the stage.
As in all melodramas the intent is to entertain and amuse but "An Octoroon" is a serious play addressing race relations. At a time in our country when racism is bubbling up all over the country, a melodrama written over 150 years ago is current and relevant.
And bravo to Soho Rep for supporting new forms of storytelling! You will be hearing more about them in my blog in months to come.
