Over the last four years, Arts at St. Ann’s
has served as the unofficial Brooklyn outpost for The Wooster
Group, thanks to nearly annual presentations of past and present
works: "House/Lights" (2005), "Brace Up!"
(2003) and "To You, the Birdie!" (2002). The envelope-pushing
SoHo-based collective – whose intellectually rigorous, technologically
adventurous deconstructions of the classics have made it one
of the most imitated avant garde theater companies in the world
– returns once again to 38 Water St. with a revival of its critically
acclaimed interpretation of "The Emperor Jones."
As with previous incarnations of Eugene O’Neill’s expressionist
one-act, Kate Valk – dressed as a man and wearing blackface –
stars as the railroad porter who gains control of a Caribbean
island before going crazy.
The non-traditional casting makes this probably the only play
in the American canon to have provided a black civil rights activist
and a white female actress with the greatest stage role of their
careers.
What Paul Robeson would think of Valk’s postmodern minstrel show,
however, is anyone’s guess.
"The Emperor Jones" runs at St. Ann’s Warehouse (38
Water St. between Dock and Main streets in DUMBO) from March
1 to April 2, Wednesday through Sunday at 8 pm. Tickets are $25-$37.50.
For reservations, call (718) 254-8779 or go online to www.ticketweb.com.
