Theatre In Minneapolis
Your Source For What's On Stage In Minneapolis 

   Quick Search
OR
Search by date:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  An Octoroon at Mixed Blood Theatre

An Octoroon

Mixed Blood Theatre
1501 S 4th Street Minneapolis

AN OCTOROON, which the New York Times proclaimed to be "this decade's most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America today," is a shrewdly awkward riff on The Octoroon, a 19th-century melodrama about illicit interracial love. From playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, described by the New York Times as one of "this country's most original and illuminating writers about race," comes this funny, disturbing, whirlwind of a play about the antebellum South as well as our present-day American selves, a play about the complexity of American identities and their unresolvable connection to our legacy of slavery and genocide. It is a full-blooded investigation of race and cultural politics, yet so energetic, funny, and entertainingly demented, you can't look away.

Thru - Nov 15, 2015

Wednesdays: 7:30pm
Thursdays: 7:30pm
Fridays: 7:30pm
Saturdays: 7:30pm
Sundays: 2:00pm



Price: $20

Box Office: 612-338-6131

www.mixedblood.com



Nearby Restaurants

  An Octoroon Reviews

Star Tribune - Recommended

"...In his query of the past, playwright Jacobs-Jenkins seems to locate some of the roots of our present distemper. His "Octoroon" is clever and messy but important work."
Read Full Review

Rohan Preston


Twin Cities Pioneer Press - Recommended

"...Jacobs-Jenkins' provocative and improbably entertaining play goes to great lengths to make us feel the hurt of that inhumanity. Director Nataki Garrett doesn't burn down Mixed Blood Theatre but there is a sense that maybe the only way to fix this world is to burn it down and start all over again. In that vein, it's interesting to note that the theater where "An Octoroon" is being performed -- and where there is all this talk of arson -- is a former firehouse. Something tells me Branden Jacobs-Jenkins would love that."
Read Full Review

Chris Hewitt


How Was The Show - Recommended

"...it provides Jacobs-Jenkins with the chance to very freely adapt The Octoroon, using extensive narration, actors in whiteface, in blackface, using often confusing multiple casting, totally confusing puppetry (the rabbit?), long static expositional scenes. An Octoroon works best when it hews to the story material provided by Boucicault, but too often it lurches and wobbles, with characters who create too many unanswered questions. For example: why do the women speak so anachronistically? Why are they so lackadaisical about being sold? Won't Dido ever put down that blankety-blank broom?"`
Read Full Review

John Olive


Aisle Say Twin Cities - Recommended

"...Mixed Blood Theatre's opening show, An Octoroon, is a fitting show for the talents of Mixed Blood. Known for their plays on, about and for diversity, An Octoroon, fits right in. By way of a brief synopsis, An Octoroon is a play within a play (somewhat). It's about a playwright who adapts an older play called The Octoroon. You get to meet both playwrights (of the current and former play) and you get to see the actual play, which is a melodrama about slavery and a woman who is 1/8 black. As I am trying to briefly write up this synopsis I am realizing that without a long, complicated explanation the play is not going to make much sense. So, I'll leave the synopsis with this-the plot makes sense and moves you right through the action, with a few little fun surprises and twists along the way."
Read Full Review

Tamar Neumann



Follow Us On Twitter