Lantern Theater Company presents Keith Hamilton Cobb’s American Moor

Thoughtful and intelligent

This thoughtful production from director Kash Goins follows the trajectory of a middle-aged Black actor (Phillip Brown) reluctantly auditioning for an Othello presentation with a white director (Thane Madsen). The show delves into the actor’s paralyzed inner monologue as the director increasingly demands a minstrel-style “obeisance.” The script showcases how oft-used phrases such as “playing Devil’s advocate” or “this is not the time or the place to have this discussion” consistently map over Black experiences in favor of white ones. Dubbing these characters simply as “An Actor” and “A Director” denotes the frequency of the experience Cobb portrays.

The playwright also intersperses phrases such as “emotional” or “arrogant” African American, indicating why Black actors are afraid to speak out. There are brilliant comedic moments using stereotypical street vernacular as satire; if you are white, resist the urge to laugh in discomfort. This highly intelligent script offers a fresh take on Othello while addressing power dynamics, racial perspectives, and the difficulty of existing as a middle-aged Black actor who can’t choose their director. Cobb’s delicate and Bard-worthy wordsmithery illuminates racial conflicts in phrases such as “your porcelain perspective” or “I don't want to listen to a bunch of white folks talk about Black folks … with me in the room.”

A relatable personal experience

American Moor was conceived almost 12 years ago, but it reflects my personal experience as an African American in the theater community today. Like Cobb’s protagonist, I loved 17th- through 19th-century British and American literature. When I joined a Renaissance Faire cast in my 20s, a producer requested I hide my natural hair texture. I had to patiently explain that Black people existed in 15th-century England WITHOUT hair straighteners. Even now, I experience difficulties as a middle-aged Black woman concerning racial portrayals, including bowing out of a diversity satire that felt questionable. And like American Moor’s Actor, I have the “aging body of a badass,” which one sketch director made clear was better suited for “old lady” roles than young comedic female characters.

An excellent production

Brown’s performance is excellent. While I occasionally wished he projected more in the Lantern’s intimate space, I understand why he didn’t have a mic. His gentle façade contrasts with his growing angst, emphasizing his tangible bias experiences. At the performance I attended, every time Brown unleashed his character's emotions through delicious facial expressions and passionate vocals, I marinated in them. Madsen is super slappable as the seemingly stereotypical yet true-to-life white male director. I have heard many white males in theater state that if they aren’t using the n-word, they aren’t showcasing bias. Madsen’s portrayal nicely shows otherwise.

Marie Laster’s clever scenic design of an oversized library with a gradient effect that makes the three-dimensional books appear airbrushed also includes a hidden stage and projection area. Tiffany Bacon’s layered costumes, transitioning from Elizabethan actor to modern Black man, are both wearable and effective. Subtle lighting design by Tydell Williams meets headshots in inspired visual flashes. Sound designer Adiah D. Hicks’s quill sounds coordinate brilliantly with projected pages, while the covert 1990s rap soundtrack sets the stage.

An American show

If you love Shakespeare, go see this. If you want insight into the Black theater experience, go see this. If you want to see a script by a theater-trained actor who left TV for the stage, go see this. If you have spare time, go see this. It is a highly relevant and moving experience. The script itself smartly breaks the fourth wall and occasionally incorporates the audience as secondary cast members.

Cobb was a popular TV actor in the 1990s (included in People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful list in 1996). I remember watching him on All My Children and Young and the Restless as well as sci-fi dramas BeastMaster and Andromeda (with Kevin Sorbo). There were certain parts in Andromeda where I felt his character became the stereotypical angry Black man, and I wondered why he never fought harder. I understand now.

We, as Black people, are all “American Moors” suffering under the yoke of perception and bias. Cobb captures not only my experience regionally but that of my friends nationally. The play’s setting is “an American stage in an American theater on an American street in an American town.” This experience occurs everywhere “even now, now, very now…”