Producing the Play (Venus)

Production History

Public Theater 7 May 1996

New York
Under Richard Foreman's direction, the Public Theater's.

Richard Foreman's direction and set design underscores Parks's emphasis on the dangerously tight circle of spectator/object relationship.

costume design Sandra Shipley

For example, in the act 2, a doctor falls in love with Venus, buys her contract from The Mother Showman, takes Venus to Paris, teaches her French, makes her his mistress, and subjects her to medical studies. The exploitation of the cage is replaced by the prodding of doctors' instruments in a Parisian medical academy. His colleagues threaten the lasciviously benevolent doctor's career if he doesn't end his relationship with Venus. "Yr wifes distraught," says The Grade-School Chum.

Anne Davis Basting University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_journal/v049/49.2pr_parks.html

Rather than focus on the subtler nuances of Parks's playful text, Richard Foreman's direction and set design underscores Parks's emphasis on the dangerously tight circle of spectator/object relationship. His now signature wires strung above the audience divide their lines of vision and connect them to the stage action. All action is turned outward for the audience's direct consumption. For example, in a bedroom scene in act 2, Venus and The Baron Docteur stand together in a cleverly designed bed built vertically for optimum visibility. Ladders lead up to curtained box seats raised above both stage right and left. The box seats provide privacy for characters' voyeurism, echo the audience's darkened seats, and implicate the audience in Venus's objectification.
Anne Davis Basting University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_journal/v049/49.2pr_parks.html

The Yale Herald 1996

University Theater through Saturday

March 30, 1996

designed and directed by Richard Foreman

To alienate the audience Foreman uses many stock motifs from his days with New York's Ontological-Hysteric Theater. He trains bright lights on the audience, peppers the scenes with jarring sound effects, and strings wires horizontally between the spectators and the stage. By Alexis Soloskihttp://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxi/3.29.96/arts/venus.html

Suzan-Lori Parks wrote, "The past has a shape which we place behind us-our posteriors, our posterity-and we move onward from it." While Venus succeeds in many respects-its innovative characters, the dynamic language, Foreman's near-faultless eye for stage pictures-it ultimately tries to do too much, geting mired in its complicated journey to resurrect and reexamine the past. By Alexis Soloskihttp://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxi/3.29.96/arts/venus.html

Olney Theatre Center

Olney, MD

August 25th - September 26th 2001

Directed by Eve Muson

Composed by Michael Wells

costumes by Vasilija Zivanic

James Kronzer’s set

This is a play with music, and some of the music works well. Composed by Michael Wells, the music varies in style from showtunes to African rhythms. http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/dc/dc152.html

tracy lyon

Some of the costumes by Vasilija Zivanic are reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil. For the character of Venus, Zivanic has created African garb and a flesh colored leotard that is successful in portraying the character’s nakedness.
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/dc/dc152.html

tracy lyon

Frank Theatre’s

North, Minneapolis

April 23, 2006

Frank Artistic Director

Director Wendy Fox

The balance of the cast comments on Venus’ situation, either as the eight-actor chorus, the participants in occasional play-within-a-play sequences, or as the Negro Resurrectionist (Dana Munson) who uses historical documents to underscore Venus’ exploitation. http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/minn/minn151.html

Ed Huyck

Venus is overlong, sometimes obtuse simply to be obtuse and hammers away at its core message with all the subtly of a steel chair to the head, but it also features a striking central performance, a deeper message about surviving exploitation and a string of visuals that will haunt the viewer long after the show has ended. http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/minn/minn151.html

Ed Huyck

MEADVILLE, Pa. – April 8, 2008 – The Allegheny College Playshop Theatre concludes its 2008 season with a production of Suzan-Lori Parks' daring play “Venus,” directed by Professor of Theatre Beth Watkins.

The design team for “Venus” includes Ellen E. Jones (sets), Susan O'Neill (costumes), and Jim Sumerfield (lights). Brian Thummler is the production's puppet master. Original music has been composed by Bob Michel. Emily Lewis (Wexford, Pa.) serves as stage manager.

While the play focuses on an event in the past, Baartman's story of exploitation and oppression remains pertinent for contemporary audiences,” Watkins said. “Suzan-Lori Parks is a major American playwright. Her narratives about the black experience are charged with tantalizing puns, repetitive riffs and disjointed meaning. I find her plays both compelling and challenging because they demand that the audience work while watching them.” http://www.allegheny.edu/news/releases/allegheny_college_playshop_theatre_presents_venus.php

The cast, which Watkins notes “has been terrific throughout our exploration of the play,” features Miguel Montgomery (Chicago, Ill.) as Saartje Baartman, or, the Venus Hottentot, James Jackson (Millersburg, Ohio) as the Man and the Baron Docteur, Christine La Rochelle (Meadville, Pa.) as the Man's Brother, the Mother-Showman, and the Grade School Chum, and Trevor York (Claremont, N.H.) as the Negro Resurrectionist. http://www.allegheny.edu/news/releases/allegheny_college_playshop_theatre_presents_venus.php

Journal

The Possession of Suzan-Lori Parks
By listening to "the figures that take up residence inside me," the playwright resurrects a lost and dangerous history--and dares audiences to venture with her into its depths
By Shawn-Marie Garrett

But if The America Play's audiences were denied its unseeemly aspects, Venus's audiences were confronted with unseemliness head-on, despite the idiosyncratic--and ultimately for Parks, disappointing--handling of the production by New York's well-known avant-garde playwright and director Richard Foreman. http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=2&qsrc=2106&ab=8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcg.org%2Fpublications%2Fat%2F2000%2Fparks.cfm

Parks fancifully presents the character as a full-blown diva looking for money and stardom, who enjoys wearing towering wigs and having her buttocks perfumed. Baartman's is a dangerous story to tell, and many African-American audience members and critics were nervous, even angry, about the way Parks told it. Perhaps the harshest criticism came from the scholar Jean Young, who wrote a reaction to the play for African-American Review entitled "The Re-Objectification and Re-Commodification of Saartjie Baartman in Suzan-Lori Parks's Venus."http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=2&qsrc=2106&ab=8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tcg.org%2Fpublications%2Fat%2F2000%2Fparks.cfm

Article

Suzan-Lori Parks Turns Toward Naturalism
By Don Shewey

As the producer of the Public Theater, he has presented productions of "The America Play," "Venus" (a fantasia about the Hottentot Venus, an African woman displayed in 19th-century carnivals because of her large buttocks).http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.donshewey.com%2Ftheater_articles%2Fsuzan-lori_parks_for_NYT-pubver.htm Mr. Wolfe said in a recent interview.

"A lot of people are talented and smart and gifted, and that's exciting. Not a lot of people are original. Every time she and Caryl Churchill and Sam Shepard write a play, they throw themselves into the truth of the play and a world emerges. We find ourselves fully engaged, our minds, our hearts and our spirits.http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.donshewey.com%2Ftheater_articles%2Fsuzan-lori_parks_for_NYT-pubver.htmMr. Wolfe said in a recent interview.

A woman exploitedHistoric sideshow travesty takes center stage in Parks' wry Venus
By Hope Green. Week of 4 October 2002 · Vol. VI, No. 6

Director Eve Muson

Boston University Theatre's Studio 210.

The action moves very quickly, Muson says, with supporting actors playing up to four different characters in a 10-minute span. http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=3&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bu.edu%2Fbridge%2Farchive%2F2002%2F10-04%2Farts.htm

By Hope Green

Scenery is enhanced with slide projections of historical materials, posters, anatomical drawings, and "Hottentot Venus" handbills. http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=3&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bu.edu%2Fbridge%2Farchive%2F2002%2F10-04%2Farts.htm

By Hope Green

Article

Call of the cash
The Merchant of Venice ; Voyeurs de Venus ; The Oil Thief

By CAROLYN CLAY November 14, 2008

Lydia R. Diamond’s new play, being given a credible Boston premiere by Company One (at the BCA through November 22), is entitled Voyeurs de Venus, and therein lies the difference

Stereotype-twisting work opens on a stage that’s lifesaver-like outer ring is a revolve bearing three undulating African-American dancers in lacy Victorian gowns, who are soon joined by bare-breasted white women in straw skirtshttp://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fthephoenix.com%2FBoston%2FArts%2F71902-Call-of-the-cash%2F

Sara Washington as she struggles with the implications of turning Baartman into the subject of the 21st-century page-turner she has been solicited by buck-seeking publishers to write. And Sara’s not alone on the hot seat — as she makes clear when, giving an ostensible lecture, she asks that the house lights be turned up. The idea of art as something to be viewed rather than participated in, she explains, is peculiar to Western culture. In other contexts, it’s part of a dialogue in which the spectator is implicated. “That’s why it’s not television.”http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=4&u=http%3A%2F%2Fthephoenix.com%2FBoston%2FArts%2F71902-Call-of-the-cash%2F

Article
"What Happened in Boston, Willie"
Reviews of Current Productions
note: entire contents copyright 2002 by Carl A. Rossi

directed by Eve Muson

Ensemble: Courtney AbbiatiBob BrasswellChrisopher FrontieroKimberley GreenAmber GreyJoe LanzaBennett LeakKitty Spivey

If all of the above sounds incredibly rich, exotic and fascinating, it is � and was. Ms. Muson staged her production in the black box of the Boston University Theatre in �boulevard� set-up; that is, the audience sat in rows on either side of the main floor, creating a long, wide playing area for the actors that ran in from the hallway, onto on the main floor where most of the action took place, and up onto the tiny proscenium stage where �The Hottentot Venus� was performed.http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatermirror.com%2Fvbucr.htmby Carl A. Rossi

play staged in a deliberately shallow depth of field to suggest a Regency marionette show; the breathtaking recapitulation of Act One at the start of Act Two where bodies and screens spun through time and space; Saartjie�s trial on moral grounds, presided over by an octet of judges part-Greek chorus, part-Gilbert and Sullivan; the grueling tour through England suggested by the cast rotating Saartjie�s cage clockwise while the captive within numbly turned counter; French anatomists mercilessly snapping measuring tapes about Saartjie�s person as if she were already stuffed and mounted; Saartjie�s death in a filthy prison cell; and --- most chilling --- the Baron-Docteur at his podium, raising a handkerchief to reveal Saartjie�s genitals preserved in a glass jar. And considering that all of the above was performed by college students --- still wet or green --- I am still blinking in amazement at Ms. Muson�s achievement. http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=3&qsrc=2106&ab=8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatermirror.com%2Fvbucr.htm

by Carl A. Rossi

Article Review

Raleigh Ensemble Players/Shaw University Theatre Program: The Play Venus Is Wispy, But Barbette Hunter Triumphs Over Gossamer Material
by Scott Ross

The physical production, by REP artistic director C. Glen Matthews, set designer Miyuki Su, lighting master Thomas Mauney, and costumers Diana Waldier and LeGrande Smith, is a carnival: bold, inventive, wildly theatrical … and supporting a play as substantial as a wisp of cotton candy, only less filling.

Feb. 17-19

10/05

North Carolina

There are flashes — all too occasional — of brilliance, as when a British court trial mutates into a music hall turn, a bearded lady is conjured up by two actors and the cunning use of hair for whiskers, and Saartje’s final imprisonment includes the chilling image of a black woman chained to a neck-brace. And yet, with all the bustle, Venus feels curiously torpid; a certain longuers sets in early and never quite abates. I’m not sure any show this busy has a right to be quite so boring.http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=4&qsrc=2106&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cvnc.org%2Freviews%2F2005%2F022005%2FVenus.html By Scott Ross

There are maddeningly protracted sequences of people counting (gate admissions first, then anatomical measurements), dialogue replicated ad nauseum (and which reminded me of Herman Mankiewicz’s famous pronouncement on Timespeak: “Backward ran sentences until reeled the mind”), dialogue that revels in anachronism (“Everything’s coming up roses,” “blew his mind,” “freak out”), and repeated invocations of the weak rhyme “artificial” with “epistle” We’re even asked to accept Saartje being told that the word “maceration” is “French for lunch” — and her believing it — even though she has at that moment been living in Paris for two years and (we’re informed) speaks the language fluently.http://www.ask.com/bar?q=production+history+of+Hottentot+Venus+by+suzan+lori+parks&page=4&qsrc=2106&ab=0&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cvnc.org%2Freviews%2F2005%2F022005%2FVenus.htmlby Scott Ross

A New Image For Design Education
Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM, By Jake Pinholster
Arizona State University Explores The World Of Video/Projection Design

Venus was selected for inclusion in the 2007 Prague Quadrennial (PQ), along with its designs for costumes (Connie Furr, associate professor) and lighting (Linda Essig, director of the school). They participated in the category for Production: Multiple Designers. The PQ joins The Tonys on the list of organizations that should consider including projection/video as a full participant.

The media for Haroun and the Sea of Stories (left) included hard drawn animations and patterns from traditional Kashmiri textiles. Above, the video design for Iphigenia intermixed live and recorded elements on an improvisational basis.

The piece is beautifully eccentric in its intellect and style, and the design, in general, and the projections, in particular, reflect this. Matthews' source materials included autopsy photos, circus flyers, and animations generated from scratch.http://livedesignonline.com/theatre/new_design_education/

By Jake Pinholster

The show also exhibited a refined use of live camera feeds to accent the show-within-a-show scenes. By using the onstage cameras to give a “privileged view,” Matthews could emphasize their presentational nature.http://livedesignonline.com/theatre/new_design_education/

By Jake Pinholster

Paragraph #1 Production Problems Posted by the Text

One particular problem with the script is the subjects relationship. What began as an innocent and innovative idea, soon turns into an obsession beyond comprehension. An example, Mother Foreman sells Venus contract to the doctor, she initially believes the doctor has good intentions. However, shortly afterwards he cages her like an animal and allows the public and other scientist to prode and examine her as if she is a monster. Due to the inhumane treatment of Venus, the director of this script would need to possibly adjust some of the content so that it is not offensive to the audience.

Paragraph #2 Production Problems by our Context

We here at Sam Houston would be faced with making adjustments to the both the content and possibly the language. This play occurred during a very difficult time. The history of slavery and the treatment of blacks is a part of our history; however, to ensure the right image is displayed throughout the play, the producer might revise a couple of the scenes. A bedroom scene must be directed and produced in good taste with the audience perspective being the focus. Venus and the Baron are in some very explicit and uncompromising positions that could be considered prude by the audience.

Paragraph #3 Other Production's Solutions

Based on the pictures viewed, producers have had to use props or improvise some of the scenes. In August 2001, the Olney Theatre Center produced the play and rather than expose all aspects of Venus body, props are used so not to expose her private parts. Considerations are made to protect the audience as well as the integrity of the play.

For example, in a bedroom scene in act 2, Venus and The Baron Docteur stand together in a cleverly designed bed built vertically for optimum visibility. Ladders lead up to curtained box seats raised above both stage right and left. The box seats provide privacy for characters' voyeurism, echo the audience's darkened seats, and implicate the audience in Venus's objectification.

Paragraph #4 Critical Response

Tracy Lyon of Talking Broadway comments on the costumes for the character of Venus. She adds the designer created an African garb and flesh colored leotards to portray the character’s nakedness. The script was excellent and the production was impeccable (http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/dc/dc152.html)
Professor of Theatre Beth Watkins states “the girl…I’ve come here to get rich, I’m an exotic dancer, very well known at home. My manager is at this very moment securing us proper room; and we’re planning to construct a mint, he and me together (Parks 18).
In the following scene between Baartman (The Venus) and Cuvier (The Baron Docteur), Baartman is repeatedly portrayed as having control and options concerning her captivity, and enjoying her sexual exploitation, as the following example shows:
The Baron Docteur speaks “ You can’t stay here forever you know.... I've got a wife. You’ve got a homeland and family back there.
Watkins said. “Suzan-Lori Parks is a major American playwright. Her narratives about the black experience are charged with tantalizing puns, repetitive riffs and disjointed meaning. I find her plays both compelling and challenging because they demand that the audience work while watching them.” http://www.allegheny.edu/news/releases/allegheny_college_playshop_theatre_presents_venus.php

The World of the Play (Venus)

Macro View

Fought in the campaign to abolish slavery. here that the role of Sir William Wilberforce fought in the campaign to abolish slavery, is well known. As a result of such campaigns, the further importation of slaves into South Africa was made illegal in 1808. Laws were passed to grant protection to ...It is here that the role of Sir William Wilberforce fought in the campaign to abolish slavery, is well known. As a result of such campaigns, the further importation of slaves into South Africa was made illegal in 1808. Laws were passed to grant protection to slaves then still in service. However, history shows that there was still a great deal of abuse which persisted for a long time. Rare though the opportunity may have been, slaves did have the right to proceed to the nearest . www.info.gov.za/speeches/1997/060311797.htm

Explanation : During this time Saartjie Baartman a.k.a Venus, was a young Khosian slave woman in South Africa.

Discovery of gold in South Africa .

1808 - The discovery of gold in South Africa has brought great changes, as among the mountains in the arid section of western United States. Thi> metal is found scattered through a conglomerate rock in the Transvaal, near the city of JOHANNESBURG, which on that account has hecome the largest city of South Africa. This district has become the most important ii gold production in the world ; in 1808 more gold mined here than in the entire United States. books.google.com/books.

Explanation: Venus is a menial worker during this huge gold production in south africa.

Federal Constitution, the importation of slaves from Africa

In 1808, according to a provision of the Federal Constitution, the importation of slaves from Africa was prohibited by law, so that henceforth cotton-planters could only obtain slaves by buying them in such border states as Virginia and Kentucky.books.google.com/books

Explanation: Venus was only 21 years old, when she is smuggled from Cape town in South Africa to London.

European-origin population

1809 - Policies of the European-origin population served as the basis for racial identity and the system of apartheid in South Africa in the twentieth century.8 For example, pass laws were first utilized in the Cape Colony in 1809, and a reserve, or quasi-reserve, system ...Policies of the European-origin population served as the basis for racial identity and the system of apartheid in South Africa in the twentieth century.8 For example, pass laws were first utilized in the Cape Colony in 1809, and a reserve, or quasi-reserve, system, was initially used in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to minimize conflicts between Boers on the frontier and various groups of Africans. books.google.com/books?id=q65Sx_lIDFgC&pg=PA9

Explanation: Venus is a sideshow attraction in 19th century in Europe under the new name "Hottentot Venus".

Earthquake

Dec 4, 1809 - Earthquake risks are slight in the Cape Province, South Africa, though the most alarming earthquake ever experienced there occurred in Cape Town. That was on December 4, 1809, and the scenes included the famous naked parade of startled soldiers.penandspindle.blogspot.com/2008/01/earthquake.html

Explanation: Saatjie Baartman is persuaded, to come to England for potential as a huge entertainer and eventually become rich.

The Ad

Sep 20, 1810 - The ad, which first appeared in the city's Morning Post on 20 September 1810, read:. 'The Hottentot Venus —just arrived (and may be seen between the hours of One and Five o'clock in the evening atNo.22$ Piccadilly)from the Banks of the River Gamtoos, on the ...The ad, which first appeared in the city's Morning Post on 20 September 1810, read:. 'The Hottentot Venus —just arrived (and may be seen between the hours of One and Five o'clock in the evening atNo.22$ Piccadilly)from the Banks of the River Gamtoos, on the Borders of Kaffraria, in the interior of South Africa, a most correct and perfect Specimen of that race of people. books.google.com/books

Explanation: London was overtaken by Saartjie mania. Within a week, she went from anonymous immigrant one of the city's most talked about celebrity.

Infectious diseases

1808 - of loss was due to infectious diseases, while in previous wars, notably in South Africa, and in Cuba and the United States in 1808, infection, or the taking of filth into the body through air, water, or food, was the chief cause of disease. In Manchuria, the sites ...Only 3.51 per cent. of loss was due to infectious diseases, while in previous wars, notably in South Africa, and in Cuba and the United States in 1808, infection, or the taking of filth into the body through air, water, or food, was the chief cause of disease. In Manchuria, the sites of camps were inspected before tents were pitched, and the sources of liquid supply were tested and labelled. All water drunk was first boiled, hospital nourishment and refreshment were sterilized. http://books.google.com/books?id=z0FodNmT4l4C&pg=RA2-PA692&sig=UDfSjOFu5yaO7akSwPvFEztie0Q

Explanation: An Autospy report of Venus Hotttentot is conducted, it showed she died of a disease called smallpox.

Farming community

In 1810, a major breakthrough was made in transforming the farming community: a type of sheep called the Merino, was imported from the then growing White settlement in South Africa. Bred especially for the harsh hot climate, it thrived in Australia and soon developed into the Australian farmers' major economic activity and export to Britain. www.white-history.com/hwr57.htm

Explanation: Saartjie was a slave of Dutch farmers near her home of Cape town in South Africa.

War (Boers vs. Transvaal)

1809 - This discussion of South Africa would hardly be complete without some further consideration of the South African Republic, or the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State, espe- cially after the important things that happened there in 1809. For in that year the ...Therefore, though its growth is slow, its future seems assured. This discussion of South Africa would hardly be complete without some further consideration of the South African Republic, or the Transvaal, and the Orange Free State, espe- cially after the important things that happened there in 1809. For in that year the animosity that had long existed between the Boers of the Transvaal and the English residents of South Africa caused the outbreak of a most unfortunate war. www.archive.org/stream/outlineofpolitic00sear .

Explanation: Her Father and the rest of her family were killed during this violent war.

Pass Laws

Beginning in 1809 pass laws were introduced and amended frequently across South Africa. The purpose of these laws was to control the movement of blacks and to obtain their labor in both rural and urban areas. The mining industry became a major force behind demands for pass law controls. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761584097/pass_laws.html

Explanation: Abolitionist is convinced that she was brought to England against her will to perform without pay.

World of the play" Micro View

Time : The year was 1810, three years after the Bill for the Abolition of the Slave- Trade had been passed in Parliament.

Location : South Africa to Europe and little bit in Paris

White South Africans

the white south Africans are the white population of Africa, that are also known as European Africans or Africans of European Descent. These individuals are mostly of Dutch, British, French, Portuguese, German, and to a lesser extent.://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Africans

Explanation : Saartjie as slave, worked for white south africans as a menial worker.

Khosian Family

Culturally the Khoisan are divided into the hunter gatherer San (originally a derogatory term used by the Khoi) or Bushmen, and the pastoral Khoi (also known historically as Hottentots, a term now considered obsolete and sometimes offensive). The various Khoisan languages, which are not all related to each other. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoisan

Explanation: Venus Hottentots was a khoikhoi young women, which is part of the Bush family and Khosian family.

Cape town the tip of the continent the British found an established colony with 25,000 slaves, 20,000 white colonists, 15,000 Khoisan, and 1,000 freed black slaves. Power resided solely with a white élite in Cape Town, and differentiation on the basis of race was deeply entrenched. Outside Cape Town and the immediate hinterland, isolated black and white pastoralists populated the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town

Explanation : Cape town is the place where her life changes. Suggested that she travel to England for her riches and being entertainer.

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. His successes may have made him the first "show business" millionaire.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum

Explanation: England, is where sara meets mothershowman .This is the time circuses are starting to become successful and making a name for it self.

Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts involving Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies and opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_era

Explanation : At this time Hottentot Venus and displayed at circuses, fairs, private parties and public exhibitions, Saartjie Baartman, satisfied all the wildest fantasies of the European conqueror.

st Anglo-Boer War

first Anglo-Boer War, known to Afrikaners as the "War of Independence", broke out in 1880. The conflict ended almost as soon as it began with a crushing Boer victory at Battle of Majuba Hill (27 February 1881). The republic regained its independence as the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek ("South African Republic"), or ZAR.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Boer_War

Explanation : During the time of the war, Baartman is sold to Mothershowman, who took her to France with her as the main attraction in her show.

Racisim

How can a Racism Conference be held for the first time in Africa and fail to debate .... In 1810, the British Parliament declared slave trading a felony, punishable by 14 ... affirmative action racial quotas in South Africa.http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/racism_slavery_terrorism.htm

Explanation :A court battle waged by abolitionists to free her from her exhibitors failed.

Treaties of Tilsit

Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by Napoleon I of France in the town of Tilsit in July, 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaties_of_Tilsit

Explanation :Sara Baartman remained an object of scientific investigation, in France and Britian.

Radama I "the Great" (c. 1793-1828), the first king of Madagascar, united the island under his rule.
In 1810, he succeeded his father Andrianampoinimerina as king of Merina, a small area in the central plateau of the island, around Antananarivohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radama_I_of_Madagascar.

Explanation : Sara B. who was a young woman who was taken from South Africa, and then exhibited as a freak across Britain.

Bedrock of European

ideas about black female sexuality. http://www.ask.com/bar?q=History+of+Saartjie+Baartman&page=3&qsrc=6&ab=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fscientificaesthetic.com%2F2009%2F03%2F03%2Fsaartjie-baartman-the-hottentot-venus.html.

Explanation : Saartjie Baartman was considered a South African sexual freak by Caucasian culture.
Images

engraving of Khoikhoi pastoralists at today's Mossel Bay in the Western Cape. The Khoikhoi, otherwise known as Hottentots, and the San Bushmen lived on the southern tip of Africa for thousands of years http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/history.htm

European settlement of South Africa began with the arrival of Dutch. http://www.southafrica.info/about/history/history.htm

The Bushmen Era

First Boer War http://www.pinetreeweb.com/13th-boer-war-cavalry.jpg

Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum

Napoleonic period http://www.culture24.org.uk/asset_arena/2/34/06/160432/v0_master.jpg

Racisim & Slaveryhttp://www.frontline.org.za/articles/racism_slavery_terrorism.htm

Treaties of Tilsit http://serieamania.net/napoleon/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/tilsit.jpg


King Radama http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~royalty/pix/radama1.jpg





bedrock of European http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/South_Africa-Hankey-Sarah_Baartmans_grave.jpg


Statement
Saartyre Baartman
A.K.A.
“Venus”


Saartyre Baartman was born in 1789 in South Africa. Her short lived life endured horrific displays, torture and persecution. Saartyre’s story was forgotten for many centuries because it was buried under mounds of dusty racist documents by the South African Government. Her genitals were found floating in a jar of formaldehyde in a museum in Paris. After her remains were discovered South African, England and women in the U.S. have worked tirelessly to have her remains returned to her home land. Currently, her torturous past is being written in books.
In the early 19th Century, Saartyre was convinced by Khoi women to leave her home to become a dancer. Instead, she was promised money for the shows she performed that could be sent back to her family to support them. But instead, she was treated like a freak, an animal on display in a circus. .
In the early 1800’s, the Venus Hottentots (as she is dubbed) a young black woman with an enormous posterior is lured away from her menial job in South Africa to tour the world and make lots of money. Once in England, however, she is sold to a freak show and becomes a star. She shows off her attributes, bringing in crowds and raking in money for the side show owners. Quickly becoming adept at showing herself, and figuring out what the people wanted, she even tries to break out on her own, but can’t quite master that in those social times. Eventually, she is procured by a white doctor who is more than fascinated with her. He falls in love with her and keeps her as his mistress until he is in danger of losing his medical reputation and social standing. Venus who journeyed to Europe with high hopes, at the end of her short life, was dissected by the man she loved.
Venus Hottentots left South Africa because she envisioned her life to be enhanced by making lots of money and becoming famous. Instead, she finds her no more than a slave to another white man. After realizing side show owners and the public were finding her posterior as something abnormal, Venus decided to make it on her own, eventually to survive she found herself prostituting her body for food and alcohol.
This story could be viewed as a documentary or short feature narrative. During the 1810’s silent movies and documentaries were used as a form of Theatre entertainment. While Venus life story may be amazing to some and entertaining to others, it probably would not be shown on a theatre stage today; however, it would create a great documentary. Venus story could have been shown with an independent touring company that travels and shows different theatres in each city.
The branch of the performing arts defined by “Bernard Beckerman” (when one or more persons isolated in time and space) most likely would have considered Venus under the genre of both drama and tragedy.
Non-traditional casting may not be applied to this story due to the fact; it could be viewed as a documentary, independent theatre piece or a short story. Casting for this story would involve someone who can relive what Venus lived during the times of her feeling inadequate and used by the public. Casting would require an actor to live and think within the mind of Venus. I would cast a person or persons that closely fit the look, sound and imagination of the doctor, the side show owners and Venus. The setting would begin with an African background and eventually develop into a science lab where the doctor would dissect Venus body for personal satisfaction and fear. The doctor would eventually be portrayed as a mad scientist in fear of the world about to take his beloved Venus away from him. In his mind the only way to save her would be to dissect her body and discard it in a respectful place.
This piece would not be considered traditional because this is simply not a traditional story. I could also cast it as a love story filled with a cast of the public, Venus, the doctor, the side show owners and people of color. While I could also select it to be a drama, tragedy or comedy, somehow I find it to be a lost lonely soul who finds the love of her life but doesn’t live happily ever after but instead in solitude. This would be a very interesting piece of work because there is so many directions a writer or director to take this story.

The Facts of Play (Venus)

Basics Facts

Venus By Suzan-Lori Parks
The Venus facing stage right.
She revovles. Counter-clockwise. 270 degrees.
She faces upstage.
8 males and 4 females roles

Venus, a play based on the life of Saartjie Baartman.http://www.enotes.com/drama-criticism/parks-suzan-loriRun
Running time: is approximately 2 hours and includes an

intermission.www.themilltheatre.org/pressroom/VenusPressRelease.doc

Running time: 2 hours, 10 min.http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117905213.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

Genre

Diana Taylor has argued that as a genre, tragedy produces "percepticide," "a form of ..... Suzan-Lori Parks, Venus. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theatre_journal/v060/60.2.warner.html

Suzan-Lori Parks's Venus. ..... genre—for example, by showing how the threat of rape, so pervasive in romances.http://theater.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/32/2/27.pdf

poetry and comedy, as well as drama .http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=62-1559361352-0

Playwright Bio

Parks, who was writing stories at age five, had a peripatetic childhood as the daughter of a military officer. She attended Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts (B.A. [cum laude], 1985), where James Baldwin, who taught a writing class there, encouraged her to try playwriting. She wrote her first play, The Sinner’s Place (produced 1984), while still in school. She won Obie Awards for her third play, Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom (produced 1989), and for her eighth, Venus (produced 1996), about a South African Khoisan woman taken to England as a sideshow attraction.

Publication

available for purchase at http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Venus/Suzan-Lori-Parks/e/9781559361354/?itm=7

available for purchase at http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780822215677-2

Rights

Professional : Application for Professional Stage Performance Rights> indicates required field
NOTE: This application constitutes an inquiry into the availability of professional performance rights for the title you have selected. You must fill out all required fields below before you submit. You will be contacted following submission of the application. Before submitting, please be sure to read the Terms and Conditions below.
If you are inquiring about English-language stage performance rights in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or the United Kingdom, you should contact our Foreign Agents in those regions.
If you are unsure whether your theatre is professional or nonprofessional, please see the FAQs page for more information on this topic before you submit an application. https://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/secure/qpro.asp

Nonprofessional :Book/Item: VENUSPrice: $7.50ISBN/Code: 978-0-8222-1567-7
FEE: $75 per performance. This is our standard application. Apply for rights to produce a full-length play, a one-act play or a complete collection of one-act plays. (U.S. and Canadian productions only.) Application for Nonprofessional Stage Performance Rights > indicates required field
NOTE: This is an application for nonprofessional performance rights for a full-length play, a one-act play or a complete collection of one-act plays, which are granted only upon written confirmation from the Play Service. Do not use this application if you are only interested in a royalty price quote. Nonprofessional per performance fees for all of our plays may be found in our catalogue or by viewing the play’s description via The PlayFinder™. https://www.dramatists.com/cgi-bin/db/secure/autonpa.asp

Characters

a South African washerwoman exported to Victorian London for an ostensible dancing gig. Instead she is featured in freak shows, alongside a bearded lady and a man with a penis sprouting from his forehead. Baartman becomes the "Venus Hottentot," Dubbed the Hottentot Venus, Baartman became a popular spectacle for white audiences who were fascinated and revolted by her appearance. After her death, Baartman's sexual organs and buttocks were preserved and housed in the Musée de l'Homme in Paris until the late twentieth century.

Ultimately, she is sold off to the salacious Baron-Docteur. who falls in love with Venus but also assures his colleagues that he intends to make her the object of scientific study.

The chorus, which variously represents side-show audiences, scientists and the other members of the traveling freak show.

As the play opens, Venus is a popular attraction in Mother Showman's traveling show of Nine Human Wonders in London. Because slavery has been outlawed in England, Mother Showman's captivity of Venus sparks a debate about whether such exhibitions constitute slavery.

The Negro Resurrectionist, is standing guard over the encaged venus.

The Grade-School Chum, he offers gold to the Negro Resurrectionist for providing him with the body of Venus once she dies.

Players of ' for the love of the Venus', The chorus of the 8 Human Wonders are an assembly of human freaks and oddities: bearded woman, fire eating man , a spotted (black & white) boy, a fat man , siamese twins.Within Venus are scenes from For The Love Of The Venus, a Drama in Three Acts.

Exegesis

The Negro Resurrectionist "she looks like she's fresh off the boat"

Fresh off the boat (or "F.O.B.") is a phrase used to describe immigrants that have arrived from a foreign nation have not yet assimilated to the host nation's culture, language, and behavior. It can also be used to describe the behavior or the ways of new immigrants. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fresh_off_the_boat

The Negro Resurrectionist "Her ears were much like those found in monkeys: Small, weakly formed at the tragus, and vanishing behind almost completely"

The tragus is that little nub of cartilage that lies just in front of the ear canal. Although you may not immediately consider this a prime piercing spot, adventurous souls are always looking for fresh spots to practice their passion for body modification. The tragus offers a few more millimeters of precious canvas. http://tattoos.lovetoknow.com/Tragus_Piercing.

The Venus "Et maintenant, le livre est sur mon e`paule!"

and now, the book is on my shoulder! http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt

The Father. " Marry yr girl, Boy and then Unclell take ya to Timbuktu if Timbuktus yr yen"

In many cultures, Timbuktu is used in phrases to express great distance and to suggest something beyond a person's experience. Popular sayings such as "I'll knock you clear to Timbuktu" suggest that, for many people, Timbuktu has existed more as an idea of the remote and mysterious than as an actual place.Timbuktu was founded around 1100 C.E. as a camp for its proximity to the Niger River. Caravans quickly began to haul salt from mines in the Sahara Desert to trade for gold and slaves brought along the river from the south. By 1330, Timbuktu was part of the powerful Mali Empire, which controlled the lucrative gold-salt trade routes in the region. Two centuries later, Timbuktu reached its grandeur under the Songhay Empire, becoming a haven for scholars. http://www.history.com/classroom/unesco/timbuktu.html

Wonders #5 and #6. "Mano a Mano lip tuh lip".

Mano-a-mano is a Spanish and Italian construction meaning "hand to hand". It was used originally for bullfights where two matadors alternate competing for the admiration of the audience. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mano-a-mano

The Chrous Of 8 Human Wonders. Jawohl jawohl. "Step up my Wandering Wunderfuls and show how Nature takes her toll".

German-English translations for "ja, jawohl": yup (yes). http://odge.info/german-english/ja,+jawohl.htmle/.

The Baron Docteur. " In regards to the formation of her buttocks we make the following remarks: The fatty cushion, a.k.a. Steatopygia was 9 inches deep. Her buttocks"

Steatopygia is a high degree of fat accumulation in and around the buttocks. The deposit of fat is not confined to the buttock regions, but extends to the outside and front of the thighs, forming a thick layer reaching sometimes to the knee.This is a widespread genetic trait of the Khoisan (more commonly known as Bushmen). It is specially a female feature, but it occurs in a lesser degree at men too (in most genetic variations of Homo sapiens, females tend to exhibit a greater propensity to fat tissue accumulation in the buttock region as compared with males). This trait is also found amongst the Pygmies of Central Africa or from Andaman Islands (Southeast Asia). Khoisan see this as a beauty sign: it begins in infancy and is fully developed by the time of the first pregnancy. http://news.softpedia.com/news/What-is-Steatopygia-51231.shtml.

The Venus. Whats "maceration".

Maceration refers to soaking or steeping a substance so that it softens. In cooking, maceration is used to refresh dehydrated foods, to flavor various ingredients, and in winemaking, when grapes are fermented in their own freshly pressed juice. A wide range of recipes call for maceration, ranging from fruit sauces for desserts to savory sauces for main course dishes. Maceration liquids can also be used for food preservation, as is the case with maraschino cherries, which are macerated in the liquid used to package them. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-maceration.htm.

The Man. " Damn, it slips my mind nope Ive got it now: A Menageria, Gods Entire Kingdom All Under one roof"

Menagerie is the term for a historical form of keeping calm and exotic animals in human captivity and therefore a predecessor of the modern zoological garden. The term was foremost used in seventeenth century France originally for the management of the household or domestic stock, but later primarily for an aristocratic or royal animal collection. The French-language "Methodical Encyclopaedia" of 1782 defines a menagerie as an "establishment of luxury and curiosity." Later on the term referred also to travelling animal collections that exhibited wild animals at fairs across Europe and the Americas.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menagerie.

The Bride-to-be. " My Love for you is artifical, fabricated much like this epistle"

letter: a long formal letter, often intended to provide instruction ( formal ).

book in letter form: a literary work in the form of a letter.http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861608876/epistle.html

The Mother. " Have you tried Canasta"

Canasta (Spanish for "basket"; in English) is a card game originating in Uruguay, where players attempt to make melds of 7 cards of the same rank ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canasta.

Fable

The Venus Hottentot, an African bushwoman of the early 1800s whose given name was Sartje Baartman.

A servant girl, who’s worked as a menial worker to help to support her family, was sent by her masters to London, because of her amazingly voluptuous buttocks and eventually will be exploited in a horrible freak show.

The money hungry Mother Showman, who’s the owner of a freak show, named Amazing Human Wonders.

The first day of the show, Venus is horrified to meet the people she will be working with. There are unexplained things she has never seen on people like a phallus-nosed man and even "The Elephant Man," she finds it strange that one of the freaks wears a sack over his head.

Venus becomes a celebrity overnight because of her huge voluptuous butt. She shows off her money maker with pride, which brings in enormous crowds and tons of money for her and the owner.

For 2yrs she sticks with the side show, but eventually she decides to leave to become more famous on her own. She soon finds out, that people are not excepting as they were, when she was a part of the Amazing Human Wonders.

The married Baron Docteur, who is a white male, pursued Venus Hottentot, who’s more than fascinated with her curvy body and beauty. He decides to approach her about a medical study he is doing in Paris, but really he is mostly obsessed with her big bottom, so he sends her off to Paris for medical study.

Soon he begins to have a relationship with her and keeps her as his mistress until rumors start spreading about his relationship with Venus. He soon has to make a choice with his medical career or the feelings he has for Venus , but instead he chose his medical career. He decides to kill her and then anatomize her body for his medical study. She was deceived and macerated by someone she truly cared for. She died at the age of 24.

Plot Summary

In 1810, The Venus Hottentot (as she is dubbed)-a young black woman with an enormous posterior-is lured away from her menial job in South Africa to tour the world and make lots of money. Once in England, however, she is sold to a freak show and becomes a star. She shows off her attribute, bringing in crowds and raking in money for the side show owners. Quickly becoming adept at showing herself, and figuring out what the people want, she even tries to break out on her own, but can't quite master that in those social times. Eventually, she is procured by a white doctor who is more than fascinated with her. He falls in love with her and keeps her as his mistress until he is in danger of losing his medical reputation and social standing. Venus, who journeyed to Europe with high hopes, at the end of her short life, was dissected by the man she loved. http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsP/parks-suzan-lori.html

Statement: "Characters and Casting"

The history of theatre goes as far back as 150 years ago, when western form of theatre vs. traditional forms. Progress in theatre and play writes in our country since 1908 has focused on historical themes on political subjects. In the 1930s-40s, melodramas and domestic comedies were used within play formats.
Theatre involves documentaries to narratives as well as short features to long features. During the period of 1810 when Venus Hottentots left South Africa she envisioned her life to be enhanced by making lots of money and becoming famous. Instead, she learns the public views her as a freak of nature which berated her to the view of an animal. After realizing side show owners and the public were finding her posterior as something abnormal, Venus decided to make it on her own.
This story could be viewed as a documentary or short feature narrative. During the 1810’s silent movies and documentaries were used as a form of Theatre entertainment. While Venus life story is amazing and entertaining, it probably would not be shown on a theatre stage; however, it would create a great documentary. Venus story could have been shown with an independent touring company that travels and shows different theatres in each city.
The branch of the performing arts defined by “Bernard Beckerman” (when one or more persons isolated in time and space) most likely would have considered Venus under the genre of both drama and tragedy.
Non-traditional casting may not be applied to this story due to the fact; it could be viewed as a documentary, independent theatre piece or a short story. Casting for this story would involve someone who can relive what Venus lived during the times of her feeling inadequate and used by the public. Casting would require an actor to live and think within the mind of Venus. I would cast a person or persons that closely fit the look, sound and imagination of the doctor, the side show owners and Venus. The setting would begin with an African background and eventually develop into a science lab where the doctor would dissect Venus body for personal satisfaction and fear. The doctor would eventually be portrayed as a mad scientist in fear of the world about to take his beloved Venus away from him. In his mind the only way to save her would be to dissect her body and discard it in a respectful place.
This piece would not be considered traditional because this is simply not a traditional story. I could also cast it as a love story filled with a cast of the public, Venus, the doctor, the side show owners and people of color. While I could also select it to be a drama, tragedy or comedy, somehow I find it to be a lost lonely soul who finds the love of her life but doesn’t live happily ever after but instead in solitude. This would be a very interesting piece of work because there is so many directions a writer or director to take this story.

Definition of Dramaturgy

1. Dramaturgy is the art of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. Some dramatists combine writing and dramaturgy when creating a drama. Others work with a specialist, called a dramaturg, to adapt a work for the stage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramaturgy

2. the art of writing plays or producing them

http://www.yourdictionary.com/dramaturgy

3. the art of dramatic composition for the stage

http://www.allwords.com/word-dramaturgy.html