The Death of the Black Jesus

"Utilizing video, pop culture, political nostalgia for '60s protest, modem rap's black rage and the current obsession with tabloid TV, playwright Barr sets his two-act play on, cleverly enough, the set of an audience participation TV show. The host of 'Downs Town' is Steven Schaffer Downs, a former network news anchor... Downs is this play's trump card... a malevolent, grinning, preening and utterly soulless TV personality. He's fascinating to watch as he sets an exploitative plan in action. Hoping to catapult himself back into the big time, Downs accidentally stumbles into great publicity and high ratings when he books three former members of a radical Panther-like '60s reactionary group known as the Black Jesus on his show and a fight ensues between the trio and a loud, chubby white nationalist... Barr's strengths as a playwright include his finely delineated characters and vivid, sometimes explosive dialogue. It's a sensational, thought-provoking piece of theatre. Don't miss it." (The Sun Newspapers)