"Even a passing acquaintance with the work of Jacobs-Jenkins, who's a queer Black man, would condition theatergoers to understand the outburst as satirical exposure of a threadbare fallacy of racial innocence."
"Part of what the work is doing is exposing these fissures inside of a communityâthese feelings that weâre encouraged, as we are with most conversations about race in our country, to nurse in private."
"At its best, Jacobs-Jenkins says, the theater can become a space to risk learning something we didnât anticipate about one another."
"Satire is the art of risk. It relies, after all, on an audience comprehending a meaning that runs counter to what the text reads, the screen shows or the comedian says."
The article discusses a moment during the Broadway revival of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins's play 'Appropriate' that highlighted issues surrounding race and audience interpretation. In a critical scene, a character's rant about the burdens of whiteness elicited an unexpected response from the audience, revealing deep-seated tensions regarding racial discussions. Jacobs-Jenkins emphasizes that theater is a space for exploring uncomfortable truths and that satire can often be misinterpreted, yet it presents opportunities for genuine engagement and learning about race in America.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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