Shown this fall at Steppenwolf Theatre, James Ijames’s The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington is a grotesque, dark, darkly humorous, and energetic exploration of America’s original sin: slavery. On a stage ringed by cotton fields, the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ijames depicts Miz Martha Washington’s feverish final moments in bed. When she dies, her hundreds.
“I don’t come here to shame the founders (of our country), or in the case of my play, their spouses,” playwright James Ijames writes. “I come here to test the strength of their ideals.”
Roaming Charges: Of Fathers and Their Countries counterpunch.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from counterpunch.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Review: Martha Washington, Hilariously Haunted by Her Slaves nytimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nytimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.