Let me begin by saying, this was one helluva 90 minutes in Chicago theatre. We enter the theatre to the sound of a combination of Jazz, trap music and hip-hop. There is a sign reading “This is not history”. On stage, the set, a French street with boarded up storefronts with the name of the play prominently on display. I was not aware of the roller coaster ride I was about to witness.
Terry Guest successfully uses the French Revolution as background for several Black uprisings. A tall order to say the least. The cast enters and opens what appears to be a pandora’s box of costumes. We are off to a thrilling night of theater. This is just the beginning of the time travel and the various people we will meet.
The ensemble consists of Jim Crow (Keith Iliddge), Mammy (Amber Washington), Sapphire (Danyelle Monson), Sambo (Maya Vinice Prentiss), Savage Nathaniel Andrew. They are not history. They’re stereotypes. These ensemble members also play other characters as well such as JFK, Jacqueline Kennedy (complete with bloody pink Chanel suit) Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Ida B. Wells, Axel Von Fersen, Toussaint L”Ouverture and Napoleon. Yes, that Napoleon. This is History.
Joining these characters on stage in various times of their lives are Marie Antoinette (Brenna Di Stasio) and Louis LVI (David Stobbe). The goings on at Versailles is commentated by a on scene reporter to hilarious results. This ensemble was wonderful to watch. They assumed the characters and told the story with excitement and verve.
The play moves at an extremely fast pace. You have stay awake to catch everything, and you do want to catch EVERYTHING! You got to be woke. We may start in 18th century France, but we travel to the Haitian Revolution, Los Angeles “Rodney King” uprisings, Ferguson Missouri, for Michael Brown, Minneapolis for George Floyd, and other places where there have been uprisings. Through all these metamorphoses the ensemble shifts effortlessly. In a surprising turn the audience becomes the Revolutionary Tribunal convicting Marie Antoinette to death after a vote. This is a fun evening.
The script is wonderfully complex. Terry Guest’s writing reminds me of a young Susan Lori Parks. I’m excited to see what else he has to say. He has directed the cast to work as efficiently as possible to fantastic results. This play is a must see, maybe twice, you’re bound to miss something.
The Story Theatre’s Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes is playing thru July 17th at Raven Theatre.
*Extended through July 24th
