The performers are in effect asked to simultaneously exist in two theatrical realms Boucicaults and Jacobs-Jenkins. Where larger, better funded theaters in Los Angeles have played it safe, the Fountain has made room for bold, boundary-breaking drama. Those qualifications have much to offer, but what An Octoroon needs is an auteur whos alert to the way the tempo and visual composition of a scene can shape its meaning. A spectacular collision of the antebellum South and 21st-century cultural politics, An Octoroon twists a funhouse world of larger-than-life stereotypes into blistering social . Around the statue coalesce concerns about racial mixing in the real world and its effect on both sides of the Atlantic. Witnesses offer conflicting accounts, Mars Voltas lead singer broke with Scientology and reunited with the band. Lafouche comes to run the auction of the property and announces Zoe will be sold. Download the entire The Octoroon study guide as a printable PDF! This role is played by Matthew Hancock, who while delivering a sprawling monologue, applies whiteface in preparation of taking on the roles of both George and MClosky. [17], Company One Theatre in Boston co-produced the play with ArtsEmerson, directed by Summer L. Williams. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. The drama tells the moving story of Zoe, the mixed-race daughter of a rich Southern judge and plantation owner by his black paramour. Playwright taunts BJJ, and laments how theatre has changed since his death. An extremely beautiful young slave girl, who is treated like a member of the family, Zoe is kind, generous, and adored by every man who lays eyes on her. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. Through the playful lens of theater, An Octoroon invites us to take a good long look at the cultural history of slavery. Brooks' idea is that melodrama is about binaries and opposites, where there is always good and bad with no gray area. Suspense the melodramatists best friend is sent up even as its savored. Despite being physically separated, Picquet explains, "I often thought her prayers followed me, for I never could forget her" (p. 18). Jacobs-Jenkins knows Boucicaults play cant be redeemed, but he challenges us to see whats there. He then confesses his love for Zoe. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. He received his doctorate in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism from the Yale School of Drama. (Check schedule for exceptions.) Summary of The Octoroon. After some time, they had two more children named Sarah and Thomas. Through artfully constructed layers of sentimentality and aesthetic contrivance emerges one of the primary justifications for the enslavement of a whole group of human beings: the notion of one drop of black blood, the drop sinister, by which a light-skinned person could be consigned to a life of bondage. I feel like it has interesting connections to "Lady Audley's Secret," though. His work typically mixed the conventional standards of classical form with the emotive pathos of contemporary romanticism. A theater and a slave plantation in Louisiana, College/University, Diverse Cast, Ensemble Cast, Mature Audiences, Regional Theatre. May-be. Those who could move beyond Bells sentimental conception of the tragic mulatto might have contemplated the wider implications of this degree of miscegenation within the dominant social structures of the time. McClosky has proved that Judge Peyton did not succeed in legally freeing her, as he had meant to do. Picquet was born into a lineage of sexual victimization and strong maternal dedication. A Black playwright is struggling to find his voice among a chorus of people telling him what he should and should not be writing. If there are two dates, the date of publication and appearance Dora Sunnyside, the daughter of another local planter, falls in love with George. The stage provided the inspiration for Bells subject. MClosky then enters and it is immediately clear the group does not like him. But how a work is produced matters too, and An Octoroon requires directorial sensibility and skill that arent always in evidence in Judith Morelands production. Quadroon - Wikipedia Boucicaults racial attitudes are both progressive for his day and unmistakably traditionalist, which is to say white supremacist. Johnson openly acknowledged these children and provided the girls with a superior education and marriage to prominent white men. Note: Dion Boucicaults original play was adapted by Branden Jacob-Jenkins in 2014 into a new play entitled An Octoroon which premiered at Soho Rep. An octoroon is defined as somebody who is 1/8th black. one-eighth African American), and how these . Though he wanted her to run off and escape with him, she was too afraid of getting caught so he left without her. Already a member? Last Updated on June 19, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. In art and literature, these figures were almost exclusively female. Picquet recalls that slaves were stripped of their clothes to be appraised and then sold to the highest bidder. Besides race, what are some representations of slaves and slavery that are not complicity with the dominant ideology of this time? I know Moreland primarily as a superb actor she was faultlessly good in Robert Schenkkans Building the Wall at the Fountain and by reputation as a respected acting teacher at UCLA. 'An Octoroon': Intellectual rollercoaster ride of a play about race in [2] Among antebellum melodramas, it was considered second in popularity only to Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852).[3]. This demure, pensive vision of miscegenation and its dire consequences was made by the popular British sculptor John Bell. Pete, George, and Dora acquaint themselves when Zoe enters to meet George. She is of mixed racial heritage, with one great-grandparent who was black. As indicated by the inscription on the base of the statue, she is instead an octoroonthat is, an exceptionally light-skinned person of mixed race, technically defined as one-eighth black and the rest white. The Oxford English Dictionary cites The Octoroon with the earliest record of the word "mashup" with the quote: "He don't understand; he speaks a mash up of Indian, French, and Mexican." publication online or last modification online. publication in traditional print. If there is a The Octoroon SparkNotes, Shmoop guide, or Cliff Notes, you can find a link to each study guide below. An Octoroon review - blackface meets whiteface in quicksilver drama Poem: The Octoroon by Albery Allson Whitman - PoetryNook.Com Though it would hardly seem likely at first glance, this pallid image of slavery directly addresses the condition of black bondage. After a strong start, the production loses its way rhythmically as the plot of The Octoroon is jauntily sketched. Jacobs-Jenkins reframes Boucicault's play using its original characters and plot, speaking much of Boucicault's dialogue, and critiques its portrayal of race using Brechtian devices. We may earn a commission from links on this page. [19], Dobama Theater in Cleveland Heights, Ohio presented An Octoroon from October 21, 2016 to November 13, 2016, directed by Nathan Motta[20], The first West Coast premiere of An Octoroon was held at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, directed by Eric Ting with Sydney Morton in the title role. When Zoe speaks to George to tell him that, he confesses his love for Zoe instead. [1] She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret, which has also been dramatised and filmed several times. While posing, MClosky comes from behind and kills Paul to take the letter. The Octoroon (Play) Plot & Characters | StageAgent By 1863, the London Art Journal reported that Bells statue was well under way, though its formal exhibition took place only several years later, in 1868. With the judge's death, Zoe loses his protection, and her. [6], The sensation scene of the original play is deconstructed in act four. This page is not available in other languages. Through Brechtian elements such as direct address, Jacobs-Jenkins explores "the idea that you could feel something and then be aware that youre feeling it". Mara Klein as Zoe is tragically demure in a sweet yet one-note manner. However, we have dozens of other monologues that you can read. BJJ is focused on a play, The Octoroon, but runs into issues staging it because the white actors quit, so he applies whiteface in order to play them himself. [2] In a 2018 poll by critics of The New York Times, the work was ranked the second-greatest American play of the past 25 years. George doesnt know at first that Zoe is an octoroon, meaning shes 1/8th Black, but he refuses to let miscegenation law stand in the way of his hearts desire. A $300-million (minimum) gondola to Dodger Stadium? The word octoroon signifies a person of one-eighth African ancestry. It concerns the residents of a Louisiana plantation called Terrebonne, and sparked debates about the abolition of slavery and the role of theatre in politics. [2], Jacobs-Jenkins also cites Peter Brooks' The Melodramatic Imagination as an inspiration for his approach to melodrama. She, however, gets her father to buy the plantation in order to save it, George, and Zoe, but Zoe is sold off separately to MClosky after a huge bidding war between him and the Sunnysides. Zoe from The Octoroon Summary & Breakdown | StageAgent The owner, Mr. Peyton, has died and left a mountain of debts and liens against the property, and this is making it problematic for his wife and daughter. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of The Octoroon by Dion Boucicault. [2], Jacobs-Jenkins researched Boucicault heavily while working on An Octoroon and found an unfinished essay at the New York Public Library saying that theatre is a place for dramatic illusionthe most believable illusion of sufferingand catharsis. This guide details the original Boucicault script and associated productions. There are a number of slaves on the plantationPeter, Grace, and Dido to name a fewbut Paul, a thirteen year-old boy, is the most important to the plot. A spectacular collision of the antebellum South and 21st century cultural politics, An Octoroon is a gasp-inducing deconstruction of a moustache-twirling melodrama by 19th century playwright Dion Boucicault that twists a funhouse world of larger-than-life stereotypes into blistering social commentary. The term sensation drama caught on when Boucicault's The Colleen Bawn, adapted from Gerald Griffin's novel The Collegians, became a hit in 1860. Enfolded in the mortgage melodrama of a Louisiana plantation is a love story involving George, the young romantic heir of the estate, and the illegitimate daughter of the dead patriarch, Zoe, who was raised at Terrebonne as part of the family. He produced a huge number of plays of which the exact number is between 135 and 400 titles (Kosok,82). Assistant announces that the boat explodes. BJJ stops the action of the play. Summaries. His design for the narrative was moralistic and therefore he focuses many of his questions on Picquet's identity as a sexual victim and concubine. In fact, the subject seems to have been suggested to Bell by the arrival on the London stage in 1861 of The Octoroon, a highly popular play first produced in New York two years earlier by the widely celebrated playwright Dion Boucicault. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Dissatisfied with ongoing Methodist support for slavery, on November 1st of 1861 Mattison formally withdrew from the church and became a pastor of St. John's independent Methodist church. The Image of the Black Archive & Libraryresides at Harvard Universitys Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Dora, oblivious to George's lack of affection for her, enlists Zoe's help to win him over. Everything was handled with extraordinary care and concern, from the ticketless check-in to the spacing of the quite comfortable chairs. But neither the absurdity nor the horror will disappear by closing our eyes. MClosky, who everyone agrees is awful, falls in love with her, as does George, and Scudder is already in love with her. In Mobile, Picquet describes her love interest with a "colored man more white than [she was]" (p. The title of the play refers to a character named Zoe. Zoe heads out to the slave quarters to ask Dido for poison. Because of her close appearance to the master's white infant child, she and her mother, Ramsey, were sold to Cook. In Bells mind the sentimentality and clamor of the stage were elevated to a higher conceptual plane that confronted the viewer with the image of Zoe in her most vulnerable state. Pete sends Paul to go find a letter that would promise enough money to save Terrebonne. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. Minnie and Dido realize all the other slaves ran away. During this time, Louisa's mother was repeatedly impregnated by Cook; her mother was "pretty white; not white for white people" though (p. 8). George offers to take her to a different country, but Zoe insists that she stay to help Terrebonne; Scudder then appears and suggests that George marry Dora. The production was critically acclaimed, winning an Obie Award for best new American play in 2014 (a tie with his previous play, Appropriate). They have realized that Paul is missing, and most believe him dead. Ends Sept. 19Info: (323) 663-1525 or www.FountainTheatre.comPrice: $25 $45; Pay-What-You-Want on Monday nights, subject to availability.Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes. During the early decades of the 19th century, she maintained an enduring liaison with the Kentucky politician Richard Mentor Johnson. online is the same, and will be the first date in the citation. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Take a look at our library of free scenes . This issue arose because at first glance Picquet looked to be "a white lady" (p. 5). Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. The Octoroon Summary and Analysis (like SparkNotes) - Free Book Notes By extension, the work seems to invite the viewer to ponder the very nature of chattel slavery and its implacable determination by race, just as the issue was being so tempestuously decided in the United States. The Octoroon Themes - eNotes.com Nataki Garrett directed the first production of An Octoroon outside of New York with Mixed Blood Theatre Company in the fall of 2015. The Octoroon Analysis - eNotes.com The Octoroon is a play by Dion Boucicault that opened in 1859 at The Winter Garden Theatre, New York City. Nagle overdoes it in the early going as Playwright and Wahnotee, but by the time he plays LaFouche, an auctioneer, he has a better handle on the cartoon dial. Wahnotee, accused by the members of Captain Ratts ship of killing Paul, is about to be lynched. "An Octoroon" begins with a prologue, in which a surrogate for the author, BJJ, introduces himself to the audience as a "Black playwright," a label he doesn't fully comprehend. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. This page is not available in other languages. 8.) In May 1860, Mattison met with Picquet to help her raise money to free her mother from bondage. New York, NY, Escape To Margaritaville Zoe and George are alone, and George confesses his love for her. With the judges death, Zoe loses his protection, and her situation becomes precarious. [10] Vallejo Gantner, artistic director of PS 122 along with theatre critics Elisabeth Vincentelli and Adam Feldman, argued that although it was not unethical to publish the email, it may not have been "nice" to publish it. Quadroon. date the date you are citing the material. The solitary scuffle thrillingly raises the productions pulse. Mrs. Peyton from The Octoroon Summary & Breakdown | StageAgent "The Octoroon - Characters" eNotes Publishing The account starts with Louisa's birth in Columbia, South Carolina. George proposes to Dora, but Zoe confesses their love, which turns off Dora. NYT Critic . During this time, he wrote to Methodists in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales in an attempt to stamp out slavery from the Methodist Episcopal Church by circulating petitions to collect signatures. Louisa Picquet, the Octoroon, or, Inside Views of Southern Domestic Life Set on the fictional Terrebonne Plantation in Louisiana, The Octoroon depicts life in the American South with honesty and empathy. We don't currently have any monologues from The Octoroon . Note: When citing an online source, it is important to include all necessary dates. [11], Mark Ravenhill staged a workshop production of the play featuring Saycon Sengbloh in April 2012. Act II begins with Scudder showing off his camera, when Pete, an older slave, enters to say the estate has officially been put up for sale. An Octoroon is a play written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The audience is catapulted into a space that plays to their stereotypes and questions our societys relationship to humanity and our history. It contains elements of Romanticism and melodrama. The Octoroon Summary and Study Guide | SuperSummary Yet when the staging must focus attention on an image encapsulating the evil violence of Americas racist past, a picture is not just found but held for a length of time that makes it impossible to look away. For its form he turned to a another carved vision of abject captivity, the highly praised Greek Slave by the expatriate American artist Hiram Powers. You're no negro" (p.43). [7][8] It was originally directed by Gavin Quinn of the Irish theatre company Pan Pan, but Jacobs-Jenkins took over the role after Quinn quit several weeks into rehearsals. Text for each Image of the Week is written by Sheldon Cheek. She explains that she felt that because she was committing adultery, she'd "have to die and be lost" (p. 22). The Octoroon (Play) Monologues | StageAgent The men leave to fetch the authorities, but McClosky escapes. In 1858, Picquet discovered that her mother was still alive and began corresponding with her and with Horton in regards to buying her Ramsey's freedom. The Octoroon Dion Boucicault 36-page comprehensive study guide Chapter-by-chapter summaries and multiple sections of expert analysis The ultimate resource for assignments, engaging lessons, and lively book discussions Access Full Guide Download Save The Octoroon Themes Racial Identification and Discrimination The Octoroon. The group tells Wahnotee of MCloskys guilt and go to capture MClosky, calling for his death, when MClosky escapes, lighting the shed and ship on fire as he does. The conflict centers around Zoe, the Octoroon, a term used at the time to describe a person who was 1/8 African, 7/8 Caucasian. publication in traditional print. Dido protests, but Zoe steals the liquid and runs away. Despite her deep concern for Ramsey's welfare, she found happiness in her marriage to Henry Picquet, a mulatto. When Dora finds out, she is very angry at them and asks her father to buy the plantation, which he does. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. Theres something too straightforward in the approach to the staging, too oriented to the basic elements of storytelling to handle the dynamic shifts among parody, commentary and appreciation. At the end of the narrative Mattison includes his own "Conclusion and Moral of the Whole Story." George defends him and demands a fair trial, while MClosky reluctantly takes the role of prosecution. Hiram Mattison, Louisa Picquet, the Octoroon: or Inside Views of Southern Domestic Life. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story Is Our TV Pick Of The Week, Small Town Horror Story: The Racist Attack Of A FedEx Worker. Upon learning of Pauls murder, they immediately believe Wahnotee did it and vow to lynch him (48) if he is found. At the time her narrative was transcribed, despite the kind donations of many people, Mattison explains to the reader that Picquet had been unable to raise enough money to free her mother. The Octoroon was a controversial play when it debuted, given its focus on slavery when the pre-Civil War United States was engaged in a heated debate over the institution. To that end, every now and again an actor dressed as a rabbit makes a surreal cameo. The drama tells the moving story of Zoe, the mixed-race daughter of a rich Southern judge and plantation owner by his black paramour.