The Blacks
by Jean Genet

Name: The Blacks
Brand: Jean Genet
SKU: 9780571251520
Rating: 3.54 (664 reviews)

The Blacks Book Cover — The Blacks Cover

Highlights

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Large Cast

British Black History

What readers are saying

Readers have mixed feelings about the play, with some appreciating its surreal and absurdist themes while others find it difficult to understand solely through reading. Many express a belief that the play's impact is better realized when performed live. Discussion around the translation has also emerged, affecting readers' experiences with the text.

Surreal and subversivePowerful and captivatingRich texture of languageDifficult to understand without performanceTranslation issues notedMay feel dated to some

Synopsis

'One evening,' wrote Jean Genet in a prefatory note to The Blacks, 'an actor asked me to write a play for an all-black cast.

But what exactly is a black?

First of all, what's his colour?' - which is, perhaps, as good an introduction as any to this immensely interesting and exciting play.

Translated by Bernard Frechtman, The Blacks is another striking example of the intensity, the depth and the complete originality that was Genet's view of life.