The Problem(s) with Slave Play
A Critical Look at Jeremy O. Harris’ Controversial Work
CW: rape, sexual assault, racial trauma.
What am I reading?
WHAT am I reading?
What am I READING!
This was my inner monologue while reading Jeremy O. Harris’ bombastic satire about interracial relationships. Slave Play took New York City by thunderous storm when it premiered in November 2018. Never viewing (or knowing a thing about) Slave Play, I volunteered to read it for a summer internship. After a tumultuous perusal, I pressed my fingers to my forehead, confused and a little disturbed.
I’d assume that most people seeing the show know its premise. In Slave Play, three interracial couples undergo “Antebellum Sexual Therapy,” that is, visceral re-enactments of plantation rape. Why? The Black partners no longer feel attracted toward their white partners, and somehow, AST will rectify this dysfunction. As I still remind myself now, this is supposed to be satire.
But, unlike these hypothetical, informed audience members, I knew not a thing about Slave Play. So, I plunged into the first three scenes and read what I could only see as the most shocking, graphic, and (for the most part) historically plausible…
