Venus

The "Hottentot" Venus.

Ugh.

What a sick, sick piece of history!

I wasn't quite sure if I'd be able to stomach the play, knowing about Sarah Baartman. I was interested to see what Suzan Lori Parks would do with Sarah, because despite the literature written about her, there is little known about the person that she was. Parks neglected to give much character to Sarah. Although the play is named for her, it is titled Venus, not Sarah. Much of who she is or was is left to the director's and actor's imaginations.

The prevalence of the autopsy reports were quite gruesome - yet effective. Parks completely captured the scientific/sexualized phenomenon surrounding her, and the reports allowed her to fuse the two together in a very disturbing manner.

I don't even know what else to say so I'll leave it at that. I could go for a happy play tomorrow. Too bad we're doing Strindberg!