Venus - Acting Edition

One of the most brilliant plays of the 20th century. This is Parks at her most brilliant. The play has so many layers it's like a musical score. If you're interested in race and representation this is a must read. It's also fascinating theatre (I long for the future time when this play and plays like it--Othello for instance--seem so bizarre to audiences because we are no longer obsessed with race and the legacy of colonialism. For more on this see The History of White People by African American Scholar Nell Irvin Painter. I cannot recommend this play highly enough.

Just rating the book itself, I definitely think this is some heavy material and a very unique style of writing. Would I read it again? Probably not.

I thought it was well written, but I was not taken with the writing style. I read it for a college drama class, so if you like plays or theater you might find this a good read. It's short enough to read the entire book on a train ride, a layover, or when people watching gets boring.

Had to return

Excellent reading could not put the book down. Felt the pain the character endure even though the times we're different .

So who was the Venus Hottentot, anyway? And what is this play about? Not an historical play (although it includes archival material), Parks gets to the stereotype of black female sexuality, while asking questions about our complicity in our own oppression. This allegorical work raises questions about the use of Baartman (the real "Venus Hottentot") as an icon for contemporary black female sexuality, among other things. If nothing else, this play may well have you looking up other information on Baartman.

good condition

Came with lots of marking in it but I don't mind because I do like the notes. It will hopefully understand the text better

This book is excellent

Fantastic quality