Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Jordan E. Cooper’s smashing satire AIN’T NO MO’ is yet another play about race in America that shouldn’t be missed

• By drediman
• April 30, 2019
• No Comments

Marchant Davis and the company of “Ain’t No Mo'” by Jordan E. Cooper at the Public Theater. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Last weekend, I finally had the opportunity to catch Jordan E. Cooper’s new play Ain’t No Mo’ at the Public Theater. Mr. Cooper’s outrageous satire joins a plentiful recent crop of notable and stylistically adventurous new plays about race in America (like Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview, Lightning Rod Special’s Underground Railroad Game, Jeremy O. Harris’s Slave Play, and Antoinette Nwandu’s Pass Over, to name just a few). Ain’t No Mo’ tells the story of the imminent fictitious departure of Black Americans – who are sick and tired of their untenable position in our society – from the United States to start afresh in Africa.

The play has been a sold out hit at the Public, and rightfully so. Ain’t No Mo’ is bold, brash, and altogether thrilling. Comprised of eight raucous, unrelenting sketches – more like interconnected short stories – the play is thankfully more than the sum of its hilarious parts. Indeed, by the end of the eighth and final scene, the cumulative impact of Mr. Cooper’s play was at once gut-punching and heartbreaking. But make no mistake, although Ain’t No Mo’ comes across as angry and in-your-face, it’s also one of the most downright laugh-out-loud experiences in the theater I’ve had all season. And unlike other contemporary playwrights writing about race in America (like those mentioned above) – who write about the topic elliptically so as to potentially boost the seeming profundity of their works – Mr. Cooper’s agenda is refreshingly unambiguous.

The production has been directed sharply by Stevie Walker-Webb, who pays pitch-perfect honor to the play’s built-in, jacked-up camp factor. From a design perspective, Ain’t No Mo’ is excellent, from Kimie Nishiwaka deceptively economical set design to Montana Blanco’s spot-on costuming. As for the impressively versatile, comedically gifted cast of five (are there only five of them?), they’re simply sensational. The play hinges on their ability and willingness to embrace the play’s over-the-top antics, and they do so with dazzling verve. Ain’t No Mo’ is an overall smashing, hugely entertaining new play that shouldn’t be missed.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

AIN’T NO MO’
Off-Broadway, Play
The Public Theater / LuEsther Hall
2 hours (without an intermission)
Through May 5