ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to analyse the ramifications of the particularly racialized sexual violence in Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play. As the most Tony nominated play in history, Slave Play has celebrated many wins and critical acclaim from the white theatre world. However, many black people, mainly black women, have taken issue with the play and have criticized it for harmful representations of sexual pleasure via sexual violence. Utilizing frameworks of affect theory and kink studies, this chapter investigates the sexual violence depicted in Slave Play and explores the consequences of these depictions with a specific focus on the representations of black women’s sexuality and black women’s critical responses to the play. This chapter allows for kink studies to be brought into conversation with affect theory and black theatre—a concept that is, unfortunately, rare. Despite kink and various non-conventional sexual activities being a large part of O. Harris’ play, rarely is kink studies addressed when considering the play. By contributing to the current discourse surrounding this play and bringing various frameworks together, the aim is to provide a more well-rounded framework to measure the success of this play and to further analyse the depictions of subversive sexual practices for the future.
