Jean Genets The Blacks

An English translation of Genet’s classic symbolic drama, first performed in Paris in 1959. France’s master of the absurd explores racial prejudice and stereotypes using the framework of a play within a play. The New York Times hailed The Blacks as “one of the most original and stimulating evenings Broadway or Off Broadway has to offer,” while Newsweek raved that Genet’s plays “constitute a body of work unmatched for poetic and theatrical power.” “Genet’s investigation of the color black begins where most plays of this burning theme leave off. . . . This vastly gifted Frenchman uses shocking words and images to cry out at the pretensions and injustices of our world.” —Howard Taubman, The New York Times