{{Short description|2018 play by Jeremy O. Harris}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}} {{Infobox play | name = Slave Play | image = File:Slave Play 2019 Broadway poster.jpg | alt = Broadway promotional poster for ''Slave Play'', by Jeremy O. Harris and directed by Robert O'Hara | caption = Broadway promotional poster | writer = Jeremy O. Harris | setting = | premiere = {{Start date|2018|11|19}} | place = New York Theatre Workshop | orig_lang = English | subject = Racism, sexuality, power relations, trauma, interracial relationships | genre = | characters = {{Plainlist| * Kaneisha * Jim * Phillip * Alana * Dustin * Gary * Teá * Patricia }} | web = https://slaveplaybroadway.com }}
'''''Slave Play''''' is a three-act play by Jeremy O. Harris<ref>Megarry, Daniel. "Jeremy O. Harris". ''Gay Times (09506101)'', Mar. 2019, pp. 32–35.</ref> about race, sex, power relations, trauma, and interracial relationships.<ref name="geier" /><ref name=":5">Lapacazo Sandoval, Contributing Writer. {{"'}}Slave Play' by Jeremy O. Harris a Real Look at Racism in America —Opening on Broadway, Oc-Tober 6." ''Los Angeles Sentinel'' (CA), October 9, 2019.</ref> It follows three interracial couples undergoing "Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy" because the black partners have begun struggling to feel arousal or pleasure when engaging sexually with their white partners. The title refers both to the history of slavery in the United States and to sexual slavery role-play.
Harris originally wrote the play in his first year at the Yale School of Drama,<ref name="daniels-root">{{cite web |url=https://www.theroot.com/rising-playwright-jeremy-o-harris-addresses-backlash-o-1831545447 |title=Rising Playwright Jeremy O. Harris Addresses Backlash Over Controversial Slave Play|last=Daniels|first=Karu F.|date=January 7, 2019|work=The Root |access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name="cuby">{{cite web|url=https://www.them.us/story/jeremy-o-harris-daddy-profile |title=For Jeremy O. Harris, Playwriting Is Just the Beginning |last=Cuby|first=Michael|date=March 8, 2019|work=them|publisher=Condé Nast|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> and it debuted on a major stage on November 19, 2018, in an Off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop staging directed by Robert O'Hara. It opened on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on October 6, 2019. In 2019, ''Slave Play'' was nominated for Best Play in the Lucille Lortel Awards,<ref name="lortel">{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/nominations-for-34th-annual-lucille-lortel-awards-announced-carmen-jones-and-rags-parkland-sings-the-songs-of-the-future-lead-the-pack |title=Nominations for 34th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards Announced; Carmen Jones and Rags Parkland Sings the Songs of the Future Lead the Pack|last=Gans|first=Andrew |date=April 3, 2019|work=Playbill |access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> and Claire Warden won an Outstanding Fight Choreography Drama Desk Award for her work in the play.<ref name="desk">{{cite web |url=http://www.playbill.com/article/tootsie-hadestown-and-the-ferryman-lead-2019-drama-desk-award-winners |title=Tootsie, Hadestown, and The Ferryman Lead 2019 Drama Desk Award Winners|last=Fierberg|first=Ruthie |date=July 2, 2019 |work=Playbill |access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> The play has been the center of controversy due to its themes and content.<ref name=":6">PINKINS, TONYA. “Racism Doesn’t Have a Safe Word.” ''American Theatre'', vol. 36, no. 6, July 2019, pp. 40–41.</ref> At the 74th Tony Awards, ''Slave Play'' received 12 nominations, breaking the record set by the 2018 revival of ''Angels in America'' for most nominations for a non-musical play, though it did not receive any awards. The record was broken in 2024 when ''Stereophonic'' received 13 nominations.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.npr.org/2024/04/30/1247946069/tony-nominees-name|title= 'Hell's Kitchen' and 'Stereophonic' lead Tony Awards with 13 nominations each|website= NPR|accessdate= April 30, 2024}}</ref>
== Characters ==
* Kaneisha – A 28-year-old black woman who is in a relationship with Jim. She plays as a slave in the first act and she has anhedonia. She speaks in a natural Southern dialect throughout. * Jim – A 35-year-old wealthy white man who is in a relationship with Kaneisha. He plays a slave overseer in the first act, and has a British accent in the following acts. * Phillip – A 30-year-old mixed-race man who is in a relationship with Alana. He plays a mulatto servant in the first act and he has anhedonia. * Alana – A 36-year-old white woman who is in a relationship with Phillip. She plays a mistress in the first act. * Dustin – A 28-year-old gay Latino man who is in a relationship with Gary. He is called "a white man but the lowest type of white—dingy, and off-white" despite being of another race. He plays as an indentured servant in the first act. * Gary – A 27-year-old gay black man who is in a relationship with Dustin. He plays a black overseer in the first act and he has anhedonia. * Teá – A 26-year-old light-skinned black woman who is in a relationship with Patricia. She studies black feminism and queer theory, and is holding a study in Racialized Inhibiting Disorder in interracial couples with Patricia. * Patricia – A 30-year-old mixed-race Latina woman who is in a relationship with Teá. She studies cognitive psychology, and is holding a study in Racialized Inhibiting Disorder in interracial couples with Teá.<ref>Harris, Jeremy O. "Slave Play." ''American Theatre'', no. 6, 2019, p. 39-67.</ref>
== Plot ==
=== Act One: "Work" === At McGregor Plantation, a southern cotton plantation in pre-Civil War Virginia,<ref name="teeman-2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-makes-jeremy-o-harris-slave-play-such-a-powerful-play-about-racism|title=What Makes Jeremy O. Harris' 'Slave Play' Such a Powerful Play About Racism|author=Teeman, Tim|date=September 12, 2018|work=The Daily Beast|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> the song "Work" by Rihanna plays in the overseer cottage.<ref name=":22">Harris, Jeremy O. "Slave Play." ''American Theatre'', no. 6, 2019, p. 42-50</ref> Kaneisha, a slave, begins to twerk to the song when Jim, a white slave owner, walks in holding a whip. Jim is repeatedly uncomfortable when Kaneisha calls him "Master," but berates her for not cleaning the room better and throws a cantaloupe on the ground and tells Kaneisha to eat it. As Kaneisha eats the cantaloupe, she begins to dance again, which confuses and arouses Jim.<ref name=":22" /> The overseer then initiates sex with Kaneisha.<ref name="holdren-2018">{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/12/slave-play-jeremy-harris-review.html|title=Theater Review: Slave Play Blends the Terrifying and the Tantalizing|author=Holdren, Sara|date=December 10, 2018|work=Vulture|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> When she asks to be called a "nasty, lazy negress," he instead proceeds to perform cunnilingus.<ref name=":22"/>
At her boudoir, Madame McGregor, the wife of Master McGregor, or Alana, calls upon Phillip, her mulatto servant, and asks him to play the fiddle. Phillip begins to play Beethoven's Op. 132. Alana stops him, calling European music boring, and asks him to play "negro" music. Phillip plays "Pony" by Ginuwine and Alana dances, then initiates sex, saying she is under Phillip's mulatto spell.<ref name=":22"/> She then uses a dildo to penetrate him, asking him if he likes being in the woman's position.<ref name="mcdonald">{{cite web|url=https://andscape.com/features/slave-play-theater-off-broadway-racism-peels-back-veneer-of-racial-innocence-in-northern-whites/|title=The subversive 'Slave Play' peels back the veneer of racial innocence in Northern whites|author=McDonald, Soraya Nadia|date=December 14, 2018|work=Andscape|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> Phillip replies that he is unsure.<ref name=":22"/>
In the McGregor's barn, Gary, a black slave, is in charge of Dustin, a white indentured servant. Gary taunts Dustin, finding their allocation of power amusing. Gary kicks Dustin down, calling him lesser than other white people.<ref name=":22"/> The song “Multi-Love” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra begins to play. The two fight before they engage in sexual intimacy.<ref name="geier">{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/slave-play-theater-review-jeremy-harris-teyonah-parris-trigger-warning/|title='Slave Play' Theater Review: A Twisty Play That's One Giant Trigger Warning|author=Geier, Thom|date=December 9, 2018|work=The Wrap|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref> Gary has Dustin lick Gary's boot clean; this causes Gary to orgasm. He starts crying and cannot be comforted by Dustin.<ref name=":22"/>
Meanwhile, Phillip keeps playing music that Alana does not like on his fiddle and Kaneisha and Jim are engaged in sex. Kaneisha asks again to be called a "negress." Even as Kaneisha nears orgasm, Jim stops participating when Kaneisha calls him "Masta Jim". Jim then switches to speaking in a British accent and tells Kaneisha that he is not comfortable with the situation.<ref name=":22"/> Jim uses his safeword,<ref name="holdren-2018" /> "Starbucks," to end the encounter.<ref name=":22"/>
New characters in modern clothing, Patricia and Teá (also an interracial couple<ref name="mcdonald" />) then come into the room. They recommend for the three couples to meet back at the main house soon.<ref name=":22"/> It is revealed that in reality the characters are modern couples participating in a role-playing exercise meant to improve intimacy between white and black partners.<ref name="holdren-2018" />
=== Act Two: "Process" === There is a contemporary group therapy session among the three couples to treat their inability to experience sexual pleasure.<ref name="teeman-2018" /> The therapists, Patricia and Teá, speak through affirmations and academic jargon for most of the session.<ref name=":3">Harris, Jeremy O. "Slave Play." ''American Theatre'', no. 6, 2019, p. 50-64</ref> They are on Day Four of the therapy, which focuses on fantasy play.
Dustin begins by noting that Gary came, which he could not do before, but Gary counters that Dustin was uncomfortable in making his whiteness hyper-visible. Alana enjoyed the release of the fantasy and asks Phillip if he enjoyed it too, noting that he got an erection when he had trouble before.<ref name=":3" /> Jim keeps interrupting speakers with laughter; Teá asks him to share, especially since he was the one who said the safeword. Jim is confused and overwhelmed by the therapy. Teá clarifies that the therapy, titled Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy, was designed to help black partners feel pleasure again with their white partners. Jim is uncomfortable playing the role of the slave overseer and demeaning his wife, and believes the experience is traumatizing and ruining his relationship with Kaneisha. Kaneisha feels frustrated and betrayed that Jim did not give what she asked of him.<ref name=":3" />
After Patricia and Teá read back to the group what they have said, Alana points out that mostly white men are speaking. Dustin insists that he is not white. Dustin and Gary get back into an old argument over Dustin wanting to move into a more gentrified neighborhood. Dustin refuses to label himself as white, and Gary feels that through this he erases Gary's identity.<ref name=":3" /> Phillip, who has not spoken much, says that the therapy seems fake to him. Alana speaks over him, still upset about Jim saying the safeword.<ref name=":3" />
Patricia and Teá explain the origins of Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy in treating anhedonia, with Patricia speaking over Teá. The couple shaped it as their thesis together at Smith and then Yale. They are foregrounding the study both through their experiences in their own relationship and their academic background. They state that anhedonia is caused by racial trauma passed down through history: black partners may be unable to enjoy sex with their white partners because of “Racialized Inhibiting Disorder." Teá previously experienced anhedonia with Patricia, and it was through fantasy play that she worked out her racial trauma. Symptoms associated with Racialized Inhibiting Disorder include anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and "musical obsession disorder."<ref name=":3" />
Phillip says none of his partners are able to see him as black and he struggles with being mixed race. Gary realizes that the song he often hears, “Multi-Love”, was imagined due to "musical obsession disorder." Kaneisha says she felt in control during the fantasy play, but Jim took that away from her by using the safeword; Gary agrees but Phillip does not. It is revealed that Phillip and Alana met because her ex-husband had a cuckold fetish, and that when Phillip was with her under those pretenses, he felt sexually excited because he was viewed as black by her husband, thus affirming a sense of categorized sexual identity other than just “Phillip” after a lifetime of feeling like he didn’t belong as “black” or “white.” Alana insists it had nothing to do with race, and now that they are in a committed relationship Alana views him as a complex person. Alana breaks down. Gary confronts Dustin, asking why he always says he is not white. Gary questions why they are still together, and he and Dustin almost get into a fight before Patricia and Teá break it up.<ref name=":3" />
Jim starts to read something he wrote on his phone. He does not understand why Kaneisha looks at him with disgust, like he is "a virus," nor does he know what he is supposed to do. Kaneisha realizes that "virus" is the description she has been searching for, referencing the diseases introduced by Europeans which decimated the indigenous peoples of the Americas.<ref name="geier" /> She says she knows now that she cannot experience pleasure because she cannot forget her disgust with Jim's race.<ref name=":3" /> She confronts Patricia and Teá, saying they are wrong: the problem is within the white partners, not a disorder within the black partners.<ref name=":3" /> Kaneisha is overwhelmed as “Work” by Rihanna begins playing again.<ref name=":3" />
=== Act Three: "Exorcise" === Source:<ref name="teeman-2018" />
"Work" plays as Kaneisha is packing in a room and Jim comes in. Kaneisha says that what she needs is not better communication, but for Jim to simply listen. Jim is silent as Kaneisha recounts how they met, and then times in her childhood when she had to visit plantations on school field trips. As the only black girl, she felt a need to act proud for her "elders" watching her. She says she fell in love with Jim, a white man, because he was not American.<ref name=":4">Harris, Jeremy O. "Slave Play." ''American Theatre'', no. 6, 2019, p. 64-67</ref> Jim begins to initiate foreplay and the music rises while Kaneisha continues that the relationship went downhill three years ago, when she stopped feeling sexual pleasure because she began to see him as foreign and frightening. She saw Jim's whiteness and power, and that he also has "the virus", because though he is not American, he benefits from being white while being unaware of the privilege that whiteness gives him. She says that Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy and the fantasy play gave her a sense of peace because she feels the elders watching her again; the elders do not care that she is with "a demon / who thinks he’s a saint", but simply want the two of them to ''know'' he is a demon.<ref name=":4" />
Jim calls Kaneisha a "negress" and gags her; the music stops. Jim returns to performing his slave owner role, dominating and insulting Kaneisha. She silently consents to continue, but when Jim initiates forceful sex she struggles free and screams the safeword. She begins to cry, then laugh, and Jim cries as well as they comfort each other. Kaneisha stands and thanks Jim for listening.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/jeremy-o-harris-slave-play-daddy-profile.html|title=How to Fuck With White Supremacy|author=Jung, E. Alex|date=March 6, 2019|work=Vulture|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref>
== Themes == ''Slave Play'' deals with the themes of race, sex, power relations, trauma, and interracial relationships.<ref name="geier" /><ref name=":5" /> Lapacazo Sandoval wrote that the play provides a real look at racism in America, especially in how racism persists even past the abolition of slavery.<ref name=":5" /> The play attempts to uncover current racism and microaggressions through the lens of slavery.<ref name=":5" /> Aisha Harris, writing for ''The New York Times'', said the play “bluntly confronts the lingering traumas of slavery on black Americans."<ref name=":11" /> Through the reoccurring theme of psychoanalysis, Jeremy O. Harris examines how slavery still impacts both the mental states, and the relationships, of black people in the present.<ref name=":11" />
By staging a conversation between slavery and the present, the play uses the theme of time and history to depict how the trauma of slavery persists.<ref name=":11" /> As Tonya Pinkins writes, racism does not have a safe word in the play, and throughout the narrative, white characters are forced to recognize their historical and social locations in relation to their partners.<ref name=":6" /> The play dwells on the impact of black erasure in interracial relationships.<ref name="teeman-2018" /> Throughout the narrative, the white partners are incapable of recognizing, or naming, their partner's race, rather it is because of guilt, or because they get defensive.<ref name="teeman-2018" /> The play also explores the intersection of gender and race in the context of various relationship types (black woman and white man, white woman and mixed-race man, black man and white man, mixed-race woman and brown woman), thus further complexifying the characters’ individual concepts of identity, power, connection, and pleasure. By placing sex and racial dynamics in both juxtaposition and overlap through the Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy, the play makes whiteness, and white privilege, hyper visible in interracial relationships.<ref name="teeman-2018" /> Soraya Nadia McDonald points out that the play works to uncover racial innocence.<ref name="mcdonald" /> Racial innocence is the concept that white people are innocent of race, and therefore they are racially neutral.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Racial Innocence|last=Bernstein|first=Robin}}</ref> By placing the white characters in the position of the master, the mistress, or the indentured servant, the play makes whiteness visible to the white characters.<ref name="mcdonald" />
== Production history == === Background === [[File:Jeremy O. Harris at CultureHub, November 9, 2018-1.jpg|thumb|left|Author Jeremy O. Harris]] [[File:Robert O'Hara at the Bootycandy Symposium, September 15, 2014-1.jpg|thumb|Director of New York Theatre Workshop and Broadway productions Robert O'Hara]] Author Jeremy O. Harris has said that he wrote ''Slave Play'' during his first year at the Yale School of Drama,<ref name=cuby/> from which he graduated in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|author=Murphy, Tim|title=These Boundary-Pushing Playwrights Talk Theater, Creative Activism, and Turning Trauma Into High Art|url=https://www.departures.com/art-culture/anna-deavere-smith-jeremy-o-harris-theatre-creative-activism|website=Departures|publisher=Time Inc.|date=August 19, 2019|access-date=October 1, 2019|archive-date=October 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001125311/https://www.departures.com/art-culture/anna-deavere-smith-jeremy-o-harris-theatre-creative-activism|url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 2017, a production of ''Slave Play'' was presented at the Yale School of Drama as part of the annual Langston Hughes Festival.<ref>{{cite web|author=Kafadar, Eren|title=Langston Hughes Festival: Giving Voice to New Playwrights|url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2017/10/27/langston-hughes-festival-giving-voice-to-new-playwrights-eren-kafadar/|website=Yale Daily News|date=October 27, 2017|access-date=October 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Friday, October 27, 2017|url=http://calendar.yale.edu/cal/event/showEventMore.rdo;jsessionid=ro5TxxWrf33WWNi0iV6FINMIDtj9lHeunt_vcIJm.ip-10-0-10-5|website=Yale Calendar of Events|publisher=Yale University|date=October 27, 2017|access-date=October 2, 2019}}</ref> The first workshop production was directed by Em Weinstein.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hankinson |first=Bobby |date=2021-03-12 |title=Em Weinstein, Thank You For Coming Out (While Staying In) – Gay City News |url=https://gaycitynews.com/em-weinstein-thank-you-for-coming-out-while-staying-in/ |access-date=2023-07-02 |website=gaycitynews.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Off-Broadway (2018) === The play was announced for the 2018–2019 season of the New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW)<ref>{{cite web|author=Clement, Olivia|title=New York Theatre Workshop Unveils 2018–2019 Season|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/new-york-theatre-workshop-unveils-20182019-season|website=Playbill|date=April 4, 2018|access-date=October 1, 2019}}</ref> and was taken into the development program of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.<ref name=neill>{{cite web|author=Cox, Gordon|title=Beth Henley, J.T. Rogers and Sarah DeLappe Set for 2018 O'Neill Playwrights Conference|url=https://variety.com/2018/legit/news/oneill-national-playwrights-conference-2018-plays-1202754068/|website=Variety|date=April 17, 2018|access-date=October 1, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Goldberg, Wendy C.|title=national playwrights conference — NPC '18|url=https://www.theoneill.org/npc18#comp-jg2ltuxl|publisher=Eugene O'Neill Theater Center|access-date=October 1, 2019|author-link=Wendy C. Goldberg|archive-date=June 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608201105/https://www.theoneill.org/npc18#comp-jg2ltuxl|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later that month, Robert O'Hara,<ref>{{cite web|author=Clement, Olivia|title=Robert O'Hara Will Direct World Premiere of Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/robert-ohara-will-direct-world-premiere-of-jeremy-o-harris-slave-play|website=Playbill|date=April 27, 2018|access-date=October 2, 2019}}</ref> who had known Harris since his brief studies at De Paul University and was one of his teachers at Yale,<ref>{{cite web|author=Simpson, Janice C.|title=In Conversation With Jeremy O. Harris and Robert O'Hara on Slave Play|url=https://broadwaydirect.com/jeremy-o-harris-and-robert-ohara-in-conversation-about-slave-play/|website=Broadway Direct|publisher=Nederlander Organization|date=July 16, 2019|access-date=October 10, 2019}}</ref> was announced as director.<ref>{{cite web|title=Jeremy O. Harris Talks New York Theatre Workshop's "Slave Play"|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJoWH736PnE&t=21m6s|website=BUILD Series|publisher=YouTube|date=December 6, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> At the end of July 2018, the first public reading of the work was held at the conference.<ref>{{cite web|title=One year ago today, SLAVE PLAY by Jeremy O. Harris (NPC '18) had its first public reading on our campus|url=https://twitter.com/ONeill_Center/status/1154455780399210496|website=Eugene O'Neill Theater Center|publisher=Twitter|date=July 25, 2019|access-date=October 2, 2019}}</ref>
Previews of the production at NYTW, under the patronage of the production company Seaview Productions, began on November 19, 2018.<ref>{{cite web|author=McNerney, Pem|title=From Baked Goods to Broadway Productions: Shoreline Trio Tackles One of the Hottest Plays of the Season|url=https://www.zip06.com/living/20190731/from-baked-goods-to-broadway-productions-shoreline-trio-tackles-one-of-the-hottest-plays-of-the-season|website=Zip06|publisher=Shore Publishing|date=July 31, 2019|access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> Due to high demand, the duration of the show's run was extended before the official December 9 premiere, with the final performance being postponed from the original closing date of December 30, 2018, to January 13, 2019.<ref>{{cite web|author=Clement, Olivia|title=Slave Play Extends Another 2 Weeks at NYTW|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/slave-play-extends-another-2-weeks-at-nytw|website=Playbill|date=December 7, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref> Over the next two weeks, tickets for all performances sold out.<ref>{{cite web|author=Harris, Jeremy O.|title=The @nytimes is making me love @Mr_NaveenKumar even more than I did last month with this beautiful #tbt. Slave Play sold out but get a @vineyardtheatre MEMBERSHIP to guarantee a "Daddy" ticket!|url=https://twitter.com/jeremyoharris/status/1075930836707336194|publisher=Twitter|date=December 21, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2019|author-link=Jeremy O. Harris}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/louispeitzman/best-theater-2018|title=The Best Plays And Musicals Of 2018|author=Peitzman, Louis|date=December 21, 2018|work=BuzzFeed News|access-date=September 30, 2019}}</ref>
=== Broadway (2019) === On September 18, 2019, the play ran and hosted a Broadway Blackout night where the audience consisted of only black identified artists, writers, or students.<ref>Smith, Kyle (September 18, 2019). "[https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/broadway-blackout/ 'Broadway Blackout]'". ''National Review''. Retrieved November 5, 2019.</ref> The play began its Broadway run at the John Golden Theatre in October 2019.<ref name=":0">Riedel, Michael. "Hot Ticket A Captive Audience? Downtown's Provocative 'Slave Play' Is Proving a Hard Sell on B'way." ''New York Post (New York, NY)'', 2019.</ref><ref name=":1">Lapacazo Sandoval. "'Slave Play' by Jeremy O. Harris a Real Look at Racism in America —Opening on Broadway, October 6.” ''Los Angeles Sentinel (CA)'', October 9, 2019.</ref> The play opened its 17-week limited Broadway engagement on October 6, 2019, and closed as scheduled on January 19, 2020.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wetmore |first1=Brendan |title='Slave Play' Changed Broadway's Accessibility Forever |url=https://www.papermag.com/slave-play-closing-2644882148.html |access-date=June 5, 2020 |work=Paper |date=January 21, 2020}}</ref> Harris and his team promised that 10,000 tickets would be sold at $39 in an effort to diversify the crowd.<ref>Fierberg, Ruthie (October 30, 2019). "Why Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play Is Inextricably Linked to Rihanna: The playwright talks about Rihanna's influence on the Broadway play, texting in the theatre, the price of theatre tickets, and more". ''Playbill''.</ref>
In June 2020, the producers and creative team of ''Slave Play'' made a donation of $10,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=10000|start_year=2020}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) to the National Bailout Fund and released a statement in support of Black Lives Matter.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Evans |first1=Greg |title='Slave Play' Team Pledges $10K To National Bailout Fund, Challenges Broadway Community |url=https://deadline.com/2020/06/slave-play-broadway-black-lives-matter-george-floyd-donation-challenge-hamilton-1202951549/ |access-date=June 5, 2020 |work=Deadline |date=June 4, 2020}}</ref>
=== Broadway remount (2021) === In September 2021, it was announced that a new engagement of the play will run at the August Wilson Theatre from November 23, 2021, to January 23, 2022, with plans to then transfer to Los Angeles. Most of the cast returned, with the exception of Joaquina Kalukango, due to a prior commitment to the pre-Broadway run of ''Paradise Square''; she was replaced by Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, who originated the role of Kaneisha at the Yale School of Drama. The producers said they intended to repeat their previous efforts to sell 10,000 tickets for $39 each.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/theater/slave-play-returning-broadway.html|title = 'Slave Play' Was Shut Out at the Tonys. But It's Coming Back to Broadway.|work = The New York Times|last = Paulson|first = Michael|date = September 27, 2021|accessdate = September 27, 2021}}</ref> The production later transferred to the Center Theatre Group's Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles from February 9 to March 13, 2022, after plans to stage it in 2020 were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Evans |first1=Greg |title='Slave Play' Back On Track For Los Angeles After Venue Pledges Commitment To Address Gender Imbalance |url=https://deadline.com/2021/10/slave-play-los-angeles-production-jeremy-o-harris-mark-taper-forum-1234855192/ |website=Deadline |access-date=19 February 2024 |date=13 October 2021}}</ref>
=== West End (2024) === In February 2024, it was announced that the production would transfer to London's West End for a limited engagement. The show began performances 29 June 2024 at the Noël Coward Theatre and is scheduled to run through 21 September 2024. Appearing in the cast are Fisayo Akinade'','' Kit Harington'','' Aaron Heffernan'','' and Olivia Washington'','' alongside James Cusati-Moyer, Chalia La Tour, Annie McNamara, and Irene Sofia Lucio reprising their roles from the original Broadway production.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Alex |date=26 February 2024 |title=Slave Play to run in the West End – with cast to include Fisayo Akinade, Kit Harington, Olivia Washington and more |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/slave-play-to-run-in-the-west-end-with-cast-to-include-fisayo-akinade-kit-harington-olivia-washington-and-more_1578796/v}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Rosky |first1=Nicole |title=Review Roundup: SLAVE PLAY Arrives in London |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-SLAVE-PLAY-Arrives-in-London-20240711 |website=BroadwayWorld |access-date=11 July 2024 |date=11 July 2024}}</ref> "Black Out" nights return in this run, wherein two performances will be exclusively available for black-identifying audience members, facilitated through partnerships with outside organizations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Simpson |first=Craig |date=2024-02-28 |title=West End play stages shows to all-black audience 'free from the white gaze' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/02/28/west-end-slave-play-black-out-white-gaze/ |access-date=2024-02-28 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Black Out |url=https://blackoutnite.com/ |website=blackoutnite |access-date=29 February 2024}}</ref> Additionally, a select number of tickets will be reserved for each performance as pay-what-you-can, along with an additional selection of £20 tickets released each performance day.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Culwell-Block |first1=Logan |title=Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play Is West End-Bound |url=https://playbill.com/article/jeremy-o-harris-slave-play-is-west-end-bound |website=Playbill |access-date=29 February 2024 |date=26 February 2024}}</ref>
== Roles and principal casts ==<!-- DO NOT PLACE CASTING ON HERE UNTIL THE PRODUCTION IN QUESTION OFFICIALLY BEGINS PERFORMANCES. --> {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- ! rowspan="2" | Character ! Off-Broadway ! Broadway ! Broadway Remount ! Los Angeles !West End |- !<small>2018</small> !<small>2019</small> !<small>2021</small> !<small>2022</small> !<small>2024</small> |- ! Kaneisha | style="text-align:center;" | Teyonah Parris | style="text-align:center;" | Joaquina Kalukango | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Antoinette Crowe-Legacy |Olivia Washington |- ! Jim | colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Paul Alexander Nolan |Kit Harington |- ! Phillip | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Sullivan Jones | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Jonathan Higginbotham |Aaron Heffernan |- ! Alana | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Annie McNamara | style="text-align:center;" | Elizabeth Stahlmann |Annie McNamara |- ! Dustin | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | James Cusati-Moyer | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | Devin Kawaoka |James Cusati-Moyer |- ! Gary | colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Ato Blankson-Wood | style="text-align:center;" | Jakeem Dante Powell |Fisayo Akinade |- ! Teá | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" | Chalia La Tour |- ! Patricia | colspan="5" style="text-align:center;" | Irene Sofia Lucio |}
== Reception == Critical reception of ''Slave Play'' has been polarized.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> Due to themes revolving around sexuality and slavery, reviewers have either defended the play or criticized it.<ref name=":7">Street, Mikelle. "No Intermission." ''Out'', vol. 27, no. 4, Nov. 2018, pp. 80–83.</ref> In particular, Harris believes that making a play palatable would be buying into respectability politics, and reviewers such as Tim Teeman and Soraya Nadia McDonald have noted how ''Slave Play'''s explicit content is utilized to critique racism in the United States.<ref name="teeman-2018" /><ref name="mcdonald" /><ref name=":7" />
There have been petitions to shut down ''Slave Play'' because of its themes.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web|url=https://shadowandact.com/heres-why-a-change-org-petition-wants-slave-play-shut-down/|title=Shutdown Slave Play|last=B|first=Ashley|website=change.org}}</ref> In particular, audience members and writers have criticized the play for its treatment of Black women characters, and voicing that it disrespects the violent history of rape in chattel slavery.<ref name=":8" /> In 2018, a petition titled "Shutdown ''Slave Play''" was started, with the petitioner describing the play as traumatizing and exploitative of human atrocities.<ref name=":8" /> Critic Elisabeth Vincentelli noted the similarities between the themes and style of ''Slave Play'' and those of the plays ''An Octoroon'' (2014) and ''Underground Railroad Game'' (2016).<ref>{{cite web|author=Vincentelli, Elisabeth|title=I have seen it. And i have also seen the plays it rips off, namely An Octoroon and Underground Railroad Game.|url=https://twitter.com/EVincentelli/status/1073925921533558785|publisher=Twitter|date=December 15, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Vincentelli, Elisabeth|title=I'll rephrase: the play covers very similar thematic and aesthetic grounds the earlier ones did, just not as imaginatively or skillfully.|url=https://twitter.com/EVincentelli/status/1074728918626824193|publisher=Twitter|date=December 17, 2018|access-date=October 8, 2019}}</ref>
Despite the controversy, many reviewers have met the play with acclaim.<ref name=":6" /> Peter Marks describes the play as funny and scalding, while Sara Holdren wrote that Harris manages to make every character an archetype while at the same giving them depth.<ref name=":9">{{cite news|last=Marks|first=Peter|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/slave-play-is-a-funny-scalding-walk-along-the-boundary-between-black-and-white-in-america/2019/10/06/9f1bcd10-e51e-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html|title='Slave Play' Is a Funny, Scalding, Walk along the Boundary between Black and White in America|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=October 6, 2019}}</ref><ref name="holdren-2018"/> Positive reviews of the play herald ''Slave Play'' as both confronting racism and unpacking the nuances of interracial relationships, and cite it as comedic and entertaining.<ref name=":9" /><ref name="holdren-2018"/> Aisha Harris wrote about the experience of seeing ''Slave Play'' as a Black woman, stating that the uncomfortable narrative of the play allows for productive thought.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/07/opinion/slave-play-broadway.html|title=What It's Like to See 'Slave Play' as a Black Person|last=Harris|first=Aisha|date=October 7, 2019|website=The New York Times}}</ref>
Other reviewers have reviewed the play negatively. Thom Geier reviewed the play as intentionally designed to provoke, and calls the play uneven.<ref name="geier" /> Juan Michael Porter II, a Black theater writer, reviewed the play as consisting of oversimplified confessions meant to titillate the audience.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.colorlines.com/articles/despite-hype-i-hated-slave-play-op-ed|title=Despite the Hype, I Hated 'Slave Play' [Op-Ed]|last=Porter II|first=Juan Michael|date=October 15, 2019|website=COLORLINES}}</ref>
===Black out performances=== {{Main|Black out performance}} The concept of the black out performance originated during the initial Broadway run of ''Slave Play''.<ref name=NYTDec19>{{cite news|last=Peck|first=Patrice|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/style/self-care/at-black-out-performances-the-power-of-healing-through-community.html|archive-url=|title=At 'Black Out' Performances, the Power of Healing Through Community |date=3 December 2019|work=New York Times|accessdate=3 March 2024|archivedate=}}</ref> The performances were aimed at a Black or Black-identifying audience, including people of mixed race.<ref name=TimeOutLDN>{{cite news|last=Lukowski|first=Andrzej|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/news/why-are-black-audiences-only-london-theatre-nights-causing-a-scandal-052323|archive-url=|title=Why are Black audiences-only London theatre nights causing a scandal?|date=29 February 2024|work=Time Out|accessdate=3 March 2024|archivedate=}}</ref> The black out performances were replicated in the London run of the play which led to criticism by a spokesperson for the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that they were "wrong and divisive". Harris defended the idea on BBC Radio 4's ''The World At One'', saying: "The idea of a Black Out night is to say: this is a night that we are specifically inviting black people to fill up the space, to feel safe with a lot of other black people in a place where they often do not feel safe. I think that one of the things that we have to remember is that people have to be radically invited into a space to know that they belong there. In most places in the West, poor people and black people have been told that they do not belong inside of the theatre."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Chi-Santorelli |first1=Leisha |title=Slave Play: No 10 criticises black-only audiences plan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-68440104 |website=BBC News |access-date=4 March 2024 |date=1 March 2024}}</ref>
== Awards and nominations== ===Original Off-Broadway production=== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Award !Category !Nominee !Result |- | rowspan="5"| 2019 | rowspan="2"| Lucille Lortel Awards<ref name=lortel/> | colspan="2"| Best Play | {{nom}} |- | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play | Ato Blankson-Wood | {{nom}} |- | rowspan="2"| Drama Desk Award<ref name=desk/> | Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play | Jiyoun Chang | {{nom}} |- | Outstanding Fight Choreography | Claire Warden | {{won}} |- | Outer Critics Circle Award<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.broadway.com/buzz/195791/hadestown-leads-winners-of-2019-outer-critics-circle-awards/|title=Hadestown Leads Winners of 2019 Outer Critics' Circle Awards|author=Andy Lefkowitz|website=Broadwaybuzz.com|access-date=June 10, 2020}}</ref> | John Gassner Award | Jeremy O. Harris | {{nominated}} |}
===Original Broadway production=== {| class="wikitable" !Year !Award !Category !Nominee !Result |- | rowspan="24"| 2020 | rowspan="12"| Tony Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/theater/tony-nominees.html|title=Full List of the 2020 Tony Award Nominees|website=The New York Times|first=Peter|last=Libbey|date=October 15, 2020|access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref> | colspan="2"| Best Play | {{Nominated}} |- | Best Leading Actress in a Play | Joaquina Kalukango | {{Nominated}} |- | rowspan="2"| Best Featured Actor in a Play | Ato Blankson-Wood | {{Nominated}} |- | James Cusati-Moyer | {{Nominated}} |- | rowspan="2"| Best Featured Actress in a Play | Chalia La Tour | {{Nominated}} |- | Annie McNamara | {{Nominated}} |- | Best Direction of a Play | Robert O'Hara | {{Nominated}} |- | Best Original Score | Lindsay Jones | {{Nominated}} |- | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Clint Ramos | {{Nominated}} |- | Best Costume Design of a Play | Dede Ayite | {{Nominated}} |- | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Jiyoun Chang | {{Nominated}} |- | Best Sound Design of a Play | Lindsay Jones | {{Nominated}} |- | rowspan="2"| Drama League Awards<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dramaleague.org/events/awards/nominees20|title=Drama League Award nominees 2020|website=dramaleague.org|access-date=June 10, 2020}}</ref> | colspan="2"| Outstanding Production of a Play | {{nom}} |- | Distinguished Performance Award | Ato Blankson-Wood | {{nom}} |- | Outer Critics Circle Award<ref>{{cite web|url=https://broadwaynews.com/2020/05/11/outer-critics-circle-names-2019-2020-honorees/#:~:text=The%20Outer%20Critics%20Circle%20named,honorees%20in%20each%20technical%20category.|title=Outer Critics Circle names 2019-2020 honorees|website=Broadway News|author=Caitlin Huston|date=May 11, 2020|access-date=June 10, 2020}}</ref> | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Joaquina Kalukango | {{won|Honoree}} |- | GLAAD Media Award<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.glaad.org/mediaawards/31/2020%20nominees|title=The Nominations for the 31st Annual GLAAD Awards|website=glaad.com|date=January 8, 2020 |access-date=June 10, 2020}}</ref> | colspan="2"| Outstanding Broadway Production | {{nom}} |}
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://slaveplaybroadway.com/ Official website for the Broadway production] * {{IBDB show}} * {{IOBDB title}}
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Category:2018 plays Category:2019 controversies in the United States Category:Anti-black racism in the United States Category:African-American plays Category:Broadway plays Category:LGBTQ-related plays Category:Off-Broadway plays Category:Plays about marriage Category:Plays set in the 21st century Category:Plays set in the United States Category:Sexuality in plays Category:Plays about American slavery Category:Race-related controversies in theatre Category:Plays by Jeremy O. Harris