QUICK TAKES - Jan. 10, 2009
A blackface production of “The Emperor Jones” from the innovative Wooster Group is stirring up controversy and protests in Chicago.
The Wooster production of Eugene O’Neill’s play, which has been performed for 15 years, features white actress Kate Valk in the title role.
“The Emperor Jones” opened Wednesday night at the Goodman Theatre to a sold-out crowd despite a protest by the Chicago publishing company and African American activist group Third World Press.
Bennett Jones Johnson, vice president of Third World Press, told the Chicagoist website: “What we object to is the minstrelsy aspect, which we consider both an anachronism and an insult. Minstrelsy has the same emotional connotations as lynching.”
The Goodman’s executive producer, Roche Schulfer, said: “This Wooster Group production has been performed for 15 years at theaters around the world. And the overwhelming response to it is that it is not racist but that it undermines racist and sexist stereotypes through the use of masks and Japanese theater techniques.”
-- Sherry Stern
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