This play is written by Susan-Lori Parks and was directed by Kathryn Bentley. This play is based on a factual story about a woman in the 1800's whose real name was Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman. She was enslaved and put on display in freak shows due to her body. She had a very large, as they refer to it in the play "spanker". People would come to the freak show and pay money to look at and touch her.
First I want to note that the members of the cast of this play were wonderful. Olivia Neal played Venus, I can't imagine anyone could have played it better. She made you feel Venus's pain, both physically, but even more emotionally. I have had the opportunity to see Ben Nickols in a few different shows over Josh's career at SIUE and I am always impressed with his abilities as an actor. He played the part of Baron Docteur wonderfully. As I watched you could feel the Doctor being torn between his love of Venus and the pressures of the outside world. I saw Quincy Gordon in a The Servant of Two Masters, if he has a lot of lines or only a few he will leave a great impression. I really enjoyed Summer Baer in Servant of Two Masters and she was really good again in this show. Ashley Dozier played three different parts, very convincingly might I add - I had also seen her in Servant. She is a really good actress and I always enjoy seeing her perform. The play also included Kenny Coleman as the Negro Ressurrectionist and Luis Castro as a Chorus Member and the young man. These two were also in Servant and I enjoyed their performances. This is the first time I have seen Chelsea Ford, Lisa Hinrichs, Thalia Cruz and Ashley Beal as well as Olivia Neal. Of course, I enjoyed watching Josh on stage, as I always do. I know the passion he has for the path he has chosen and I hope it works out for him to do what he loves. I give kudos to the director and the entire cast and crew. You put on a very believable performance. I saw it three times and each time enjoyed it.
As I watched the performances of the play it is easy to feel very sad for the conditions Sarah (Venus) had to survive. First she was orphaned, then sold into slavery, then being sold to a freak show. At one point in the play she is purchased by a doctor who's intentions are to dissect her body and take all the measurements in order to be able to publish a medical journal about her. Throughout the play Venus is put in and sometimes puts herself in situations that would break the average person.
The woman the story is about was born in South Africa, and sold into slavery. Note the years the story was set in was late 1700's and early 1800's. Some of the things that happened to her, as with many people of that era were wrong. As a white woman born in the early 1960's I realize that even then there were a lot of events that happened that weren't right. I know history is a very important part of our lives. We all need to know about the things that happened in the world in the past so we can learn from and hopefully correct the errors. I feel as a country we have come a long way, but as a realist I also understand that there will probably never be a time that all people will get along seamlessly and without issues.
Sometimes I believe that the media causes more of a divide than would be there without it. As an example, if you put 2 and 3 year old children of different races in a room together to play with no outside influences they probably won't even notice the differences in one another. They will only care about if the other child is going to share a toy or play with them. As children grow they are going to naturally gravitate to others that have the same interests as they do, again without any input from others they would continue to ignore the race differences. If they like the same things and treat one another with respect, it is my opinion, they will continue to like one another if they aren't influenced in any way.
After the first Sunday performance the audience was invited to stay after for a discussion with the play's director, the cast and a psychology professor at SIUE. The first question posed to us was how did the play make us feel about the oppression of the main character and how her being enslaved affected us. I do feel that she was treated very unfairly, I also know that many people of that time were enslaved and lived horrible lives. I also believe in today's world that the opportunity to be successful is out there for all people. I look at the professor that directed the play and the professor that medicated the discussion. They are very successful black women. I am sure they worked very hard for their success and should be proud of the people they are today. I have female friends that are professors, lawyers, and doctors. My sister is a successful air traffic controller. I am not as successful in some peoples eyes as these women, but I feel that I have succeeded in life. I am proud of my family and my career as an office manager for a small business.
I know that there are circumstances out there that put roadblocks in the way of some people's successes. I believe, though, that some people of all races build their own roadblocks. I have seen some that I care about make choices that hurt their chances of being successful in life. I believe that once a person becomes an adult it is time to stop relying on past issues as an excuse as to why the world is treating them unfairly. Trust me, I do understand that there are exceptions, but for the most part in this day and age we make the bed that we lie in. I believe if we would all stop throwing the race card as the first response to many situations, especially the media, we just might all get along better. Again as a realist I know that we are all human, we will never all get along all the time. If we all took just a few minutes to realize that we all struggle with things, I don't know anyone who had a perfect childhood, so before judging a person based on the fact that they are white or they are black or any other color, know that under the skin there are a lot more similarities than you may know.
I also know that today slavery still exists. One form of it isn't based on any skin color, the world of sex trading is bigger than many know. According to polarisproject.org in 2013 the National Human Trafficking Resource Center received over 3,600 cases from within the United States. It is assumed that 1 in 7 runaways are sex trafficking victims. They state that globally there are between 4 - 5 million people, both male and female trapped in the sex trade world. This is a current slavery issue that I feel needs more attention.
I know I was told a lot over my lifetime - life isn't fair. I feel that at a certain point in life it is time to take responsibility for what happens. If you were dealt a bad hand in life, discard it and draw a new one from the deck. If you have made some choices that you regret, ask for forgiveness, do what you can to make it up and move on with a new attitude. Get help if you need it, but don't continue to blame the past for your misfortunes. It is your life, not your ancestors or even your parent's life, it is yours.
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