IN ‘ AN OCTOROON,’ EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN
When it comes to hip updates of classics, contemporary playwrights and filmmakers have generally turned to the comedies of Moliere or the novels of Jane Austen. In “An Octoroon,” now receiving a sharply acted production by the Definition Theatre Company ( founded by graduates of the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, and now a resident company at Victory Gardens Theater), Branden Jacobs- Jenkins has opted for a far less obvious choice. And it turns out to be ideal for his sharply satirical and at the same time deadly serious commentary on slavery, racial stereotypes and the state of theater, both past and present.
Jacobs- Jenkins has set his sights on “The Octoroon,” a pre- Civil War era melodrama by Dion Boucicault, an Irish-American writer and actor who is relatively unknown today but whose play, which opened in 1859 at New York’s Winter Garden Theatre, was a huge hit. What he has devised is something of a whip- smart play-within- a-play, in which Br’er Rabbit, that fabled trickster in the American folktales of Uncle Remus, serves as stage manager and master of ceremonies. ( He is captured in perfectly droll style here by Tyrone Phillips, complete with pink rabbit- ear cap.)
As Br’er Rabbit signals the dimming of the house lights, the stage lights come up on BJJ ( Breon Arzell, outstanding in a role that requires two additional and very tricky portrayals). This alter ego of the author (“Hi everyone,” says BJJ, “I’m a black playwright”) re- enacts his sessions with his white, female, very Noo Yawk therapist who challenges him to work out his problems and deconstruct the race issue in America by adapting Boucicault’s play. And with that he sits at his mirror and begins to apply whiteface, assuming the character of George Peyton, the relatively benevolent young man who has just returned from France to learn that Terrebonne, the plantation he has inherited, is in precarious financial straits. George also learns that the villainous M’Closky ( Arzell, again in whiteface), a former overseer of the plantation, plans to take control of the plantation and sell the slaves.
Matters of romance complicate matters as Dora Sunnyside ( Carley Cornelius, playing a classic white stereotype), a wealthy but clueless heiress, sets her sights on George, though he falls in love with the beautiful if mournful Zoe ( played with elegance and a quiet gravitas by Ariel Richardson) who, unbeknownst to him is an octoroon ( one- eighth black, and the daughter of his uncle through one of his slaves). M’Closky, too, has his sights on her and knows her parentage. And as things develop, George will have to choose between saving the estate by marrying Dora or sacrificing all for his love of Zoe.
Along the way, all the familiar racial tropes are turned on their heads in various ways, with the two “house slaves” — Minnie, the troublemaker ( Sydney Charles), and the more cautious Dido ( Maya Prentiss) — engaging in some hilarious riffing in contemporary “best female friends” style, while dissing the very pregnant Grace ( Tiffany Oglesby) and ogling Ratts ( Kelson McAu- liffe), a handsome sea captain. (“You Don’t Own Me,” the classic Lesley Gore song, is the brilliant background we hear at certain moments, and applause for whoever had that idea.) A crucial subplot unfolds, too, involving a young slave boy ( played by Danielle Davis) and his pal, an Indian ( Christopher Sheard, in “redface”), with a lynching and a slave auction also part of this play, whose plot is as twisted as the institution of slavery itself.
Expertly directed by Chuck Smith, “An Octoroon” would be stronger with some second- act trims. And here I should confess that while I was no fan at all of Jacobs-Jenkins’ previous plays (“Gloria,” “Neighbors” and “Appropriate”), he has struck gold with this one. As it turns out his therapist was right.