Artist Petrspective
iPhoto caption: Jordan Laffrenier at a 'Slave Play' table read. Photo by Dahlia Katz.
Why you need to see more Alice Childress plays
Wine in the Wilderness will only receive its Canadian premiere this September, at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Street Theatre. I’m directing the production, and I’d never heard of the play until I found it in the library. I wish I’d heard of it sooner. Somewhere there is a river of scripts that have been excluded from stages because they weren’t seen as the right colour.
iPhoto caption: Photo of Jordan Laffrenier by Sandro Pehar.
Preparing to direct Slave Play: A travel guide to Richmond, Virginia
Since reading Slave Play, I’ve asked every romantic partner whether or not they experience a racial dynamic between us in the bedroom. No one has given the same answer. What is it that I am asking them to acknowledge in these scenarios? Who is it that I am asking them to hold? What does it mean to hold someone’s history?