Venus

DIRECTED BY:

Raz Golden

BY:

Suzan-Lori Parks

FEATURING:

The Waterwell Drama Program Graduating Class of 2021

DATES

November 13-16, 2019

DESCRIPTION

Venus is a biographical-vaudeville play about Saartjie Baartman, a member of a freak show label called the Hottentot Venus. Set around 1810, it concerns Baartman’s origins as a member of the Khoi-San people of South Africa and her move to Paris and London where she was exhibited for her extremely large buttocks. Her “act,” in which she was exposed to voyeuristic members of the European public, became an enduring and problematic source of caricature of women of African descent, especially during the Victorian era. The drama touches little on the historical context of Venus’ life, capturing instead the strange social conditions that made her life and exploitation possible. It tracks Venus from her departure from South Africa to her early death in Paris, exploring especially her romantic relationship to her sponsor, Baron Docteur. The play exposes the racial stereotypes and clichés that characterized the Victorian era and parodies the concept of the sideshow carnival that capitalizes on exoticism, questioning whether Baartman had agency over her life path.

INFORMATION

Cast & Creative Team

Cast: Ethan Balan, Olivia Desposito, Honesti Grant, Saha Guerrero, Shannon Harris, Meliki Hurd, Julia Lueker, Bernardo Manzolillo, Mia Pabon, Image Patterson, Naomi Rosenthal, Gabrielle Salmon, Jessie Sarubbi, Jackson Thoby, Lauren Wood

Creative Team:

Technical Direction by Meredith Wilcox

Sound Design by Ben Scheff

Associate Sound Design by Jefferey Salerno

Props Supervision by Sonya Plenefisch

Lighting Design by Qier Luo

Costume Design by Sabrina Bianca Guillaume

Master Electrician: Connor Greene

Stage Managed by Kaelin Fuld

Set Design by Jonathan Cottle

Assistant Directed by Meliki Hurd & Jessie Sarubbi

Assistant Stage Managed by Olivia Desposito