At the entrance to Walsh’s Black Box Theatre is a small display of showpieces from “Venus,” the Black Theatre Ensemble’s latest effort presented in partnership with the Department of the Performing Arts Tenn Cent Festival. Producer Katie Pak (COL ’12) tells me that this display — which includes dolls, garments and various surgical tools — calls into question our own understanding of what deserves to be put on display.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Venus” is a narrative of the tragic and true life of a young woman named Sarah Baartman [Tess Trotter (COL ‘14)], a slave to a family of Dutch farmers in South Africa. In 1810, Baartman was taken to England, duped by a mysterious stranger with promises of fame and fortune. She toured the country as part of a failing circus under the auspices of the sadistic Mother Showman [Helen Rave (COL ‘13)], where she attracted large crowds as a perverse attraction called “the Venus Hottentot,” whose voluptuous body was showcased on display. These crowds gathered from around the continent to catch a glimpse of her buttocks and genitals, both of which were considered abnormally large and grotesque by European standards at the time. Fueled by both intrigue and disgust, the voyeurism generated by this surge of people was enough to propel the circus into a success of which Showman could have only dreamed.
I’m curious as to what this play would have been as a three-man performance. The already-short playbill could have been cut after the third role, and frankly, I would not have noticed much of a difference. As Baartman/Venus, Trotter was meek and subdued. Her performance was able to capture much of the intended innocence and naivete of her character, as well as her trademark coquetry and manipulative ways.
Rave divided her time onstage between three characters: “The Brother,” the Mother Showman and the “Grade School Chum.” However, most of her time was spent as the Mother Showman, and it was here that she was at her best. Rave’s Showman was very entertaining; she was convincing in her cruel abuse of her circus performers and she was also able to steal the majority of laughs, though admittedly there weren’t many to be had.
As Baartman’s love interest and the French anatomist who takes great interest in her physique, Joe Kessler (COL ’11) was a great Baron Doctuer. The brashness of his character proved to be just what was needed to galvanize the stagnant pace of the play.
All three of the aforementioned actors were very good and remained strong in their performances throughout the entirety of the play. However, the remainder of the playbill was filled with a chorus of actors who switched roles many times during their time onstage. Without much costume change among these roles, it is very easy to become confused, particularly in the play’s first act. Here, also, many of these characters come across a bit over-the-top in their representations. Following the intermission, the chorus returns as a team of doctors who, along with the Baron Docteur, participate in the study of Baartman’s strange physique. In this setting, the actors seem more at home and their performances less forced.
The various props served as a great setting for the Showman’s crazed circus. I would recommend checking out the display in the theater — it is really quite interesting — and make sure you read the entire playbill before the play begins to get a general overview of the plot. Though the plot of “Venus” may be hard to grasp at first, stick with it. You will be pleasantly surprised by the powerful message this play has to deliver.
