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Jeremy O. Harris's Slave Play, which confronts how the unaddressed legacy of American slavery permeates through modern society, is meant to catalyze a learning process, if for no one else, than for the characters onstage. The first part of the play, "Work," is a series of three vignettes of interracial couples on a Virginia plantation engaging in violent encounters that turn into kinky, racialized sex scenes. The second part, a therapist-facilitated group discussion session called "Process," clarifies that these were "fantasy play" scenes as part of "Antebellum Sexual Performance Therapy," a radical new research study for couples where the Black partner is experiencing a lack of sexual fulfillment. In the final section, "Exorcize," one couple, who have struggled the most with the therapy, deals with the aftermath of their experiences in an explosive, violent catharsis. The play not only takes the characters on a journey of self-discovery, but it seeks to do the same for audiences. Slave Play therefore represents a new incarnation of Brecht's epic theatre, since it is a didactic work aimed at awakening and educating the public.
Slave Play forces the viewer to sit and watch slavery be sexualized while white and Black characters reconcile their relationships with white supremacy and the ghosts of American slavery. It actively seeks to deny its audience comfort. Harris is not only aware of the uncomfortable affect Slave Play produces, but embraces it. The playbill featured "A Note on Your Discomfort," which included a statement by poet Morgan Parker: "This might hurt…....