THE 1041C Theater Reviews

While dashing at a fashionably late hour through the elegant Lincoln Centre, I felt both excited and nervous to be part of the audience of A Free Man of Color. A Broadway show was intimidating for me because this was the first time in four or five years that I was going to be engaged in a theatrical performance such as this. The entire professional mood that I was put in was quite different than the mood felt at Baruch’s BPAC. The diverse audience, which included two of Ghana’s citizens dressed in ‘cultural dresses’ (who were interviewed by me during the sole intermission), seemed to be filled with cultural and intellectual people from all over. The impression I received of the Vivian Beumont Theatre continued when I was escorted to my tiny seat with a flashlight. As you can tell, even before the performance began I was electrically charged into a mood ready to explore the world of New Orleans and Jacques Cornet.

The adjective “interesting” does not capture the positive energy felt through the audience. The length of the play was disregarded through the laughter, the famous actors and actresses, and the satire of historical figures. The props, which included gates, lamps, windows, doors, rocks, flags, and much more added on to the play that made you feel like you are an 1803 New Orleans settler about to start a conversation with one of Cornet’s business partners. The amazing ability of the director to transition between scenes using a select amount of tunes helped your brain with a nice number of seconds to adjust. I enjoyed the costumes of the people working with moving the furniture and other props used during the transitions, because the director even focused on these people to add to the play. With a love for detail, I also enjoyed the lighting used. The different colors in different scenes helped express the tone and feeling of each character. For example, in the scene where the French ships carrying the Yellow Fever were introduced in American waters, the lighting was all dark and scary. The props of the hands reaching for savior represented the evil world outside the fantasy the New Orleans people were experiencing. All these small extras really helped get the audience’s minds rolling to think about the 1800s and the cruelty of the time.

My favorite character was definitely Cornet, who was played by Jefferey Wright. Wright had a remarkable way of using his reputation as a wealthy Don Juan in New Orleans to attract all the wives of his loyal businessmen. Wright also had amazing direction of body language added on to his moves on the women. Wright was a real Don Juan, from the hysterical seductive lines, especially in the scene with the female scientist, to the outrageous costumes and designs; Wright was a 10 out of 10. Another character that I enjoyed viewing was the Murmur, or the famous rapper, Mos Def. It was interesting to see a director’s choice of a rapper to play a slave. I loved the transition Mos Def had to deal with from being a Haitian leader to a slave through specific scenes and his facial expressions during hysterical dialogues with Cornet. The characters made me feel like I made the right choice in spending 3 hours of my Thursday night.

The wacky sexual encounters were disturbing and somewhat “too much” for me but I feel like that is what the American society is all about. Otherwise, the overall extravagant costume, outrageous props, and the comedy and word choice in the script made the hysterical play, A Free Man of Color, a play I would suggest to others who do not mind blunt sexual disturbances.