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THREAD: I should be writing rn but instead I’m watching YouTube clips of @TheLivingMJ’s STRANGE LOOP because the cast album isn’t avail.

Last night I had the pleasure of watching this wildly chaotic& horrifically beautiful piece of theatre and haven’t stopped thinking about it.
You who read the trades know I’ve been very dubious of the “Black Theatrical Renaissance ™️” that many ppl have tried to umbrella me and my contemporaries beneath.

A. Bc it flattens our work which is a tool of white supremacy and capitalism.
B. Bc I’ve read it all before.
Yet let last night while marveling at @larryowenslive’s virtuoso performance of “AIDS is God’s Punishment” I started to well and did feel that I was witnessing and a part of a rare moment in NYC theatre that feels game changing.
This moment doesn’t feel specifically black (although I think we are in a moment of artistic production wherein the leaders of the pack are primarily from the African diaspora) but it does feel specifically honest. Where individual truths inside a work take precedent over form.
This reminds me of work that came to prominence in the world of theatre throughout the 70s and like the works of artists, primarily queer, during the height of the AIDS crisis across disciplines.

It also feels like work that seems to be rebelling less against “trump” and more
against the relative artistic malaise of the Bush & Obama years. (Not to say great work wasn’t made then but moreso formal invention waned)

Was there something about those presidencies that allowed us to reject radical vulnerability and formal invention?
Either way, I woke up this morning excited about my peers and where we are. What we are asking. There are too many to tag and don’t want to leave anyone out so will just continue to praise A Strange Loop, a sterling example and one to be studied for decades. Congrats all!
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