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A review by fizbiz
Dead White Writer on the Floor by Drew Hayden Taylor
4.0
3.5 stars
i actually really liked this. act 1 was definitely funnier and more enjoyable than the second one. i appreciated the writer not trying to spoon-feed us a straightforward conclusion and leaving it up to us to interpret the actual essence of the play and why it ended the way it did.
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i originally rated this 3.5 stars and didn't think much of it but as i'm writing my essay i'm noticing drew hayden taylor's subtle genius in the parallels between the aspirations of the characters and the experiences of their contemporary counterparts. the two that particularly struck me are pocahontas/sally and injun joe/fred.
with pocahontas her intersectionality as an Indigenous woman plays significantly into how her struggles differ from the rest of the characters. as pocahontas, a teenage girl sexualized to appease an audience that want to fetishize her identity, she wants to bear children rather than be one because she believes it will grant her more autonomy over her own body. this starkly contrasts with sally, a struggling mother of 11 children living off of welfare cheques and still not being able to gain absolute agency over her life.
all injun joe wants is to receive proper education "like the whites", but when we consider fred we see a man reeling from the trauma of his time at a residential school. he got access to education (particularly an education that strived to indoctrinate Indigenous children into becoming more "like the whites" hayden taylor you genius....) but that education came with its consequences.
the depiction of them wanting to escape their realities and wishing for better lives and all their desires coming true but with their own modern-day repercussions was so well done; thought-provoking but hilarious in its delivery. 4.5 stars.
i actually really liked this. act 1 was definitely funnier and more enjoyable than the second one. i appreciated the writer not trying to spoon-feed us a straightforward conclusion and leaving it up to us to interpret the actual essence of the play and why it ended the way it did.
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i originally rated this 3.5 stars and didn't think much of it but as i'm writing my essay i'm noticing drew hayden taylor's subtle genius in the parallels between the aspirations of the characters and the experiences of their contemporary counterparts. the two that particularly struck me are pocahontas/sally and injun joe/fred.
with pocahontas her intersectionality as an Indigenous woman plays significantly into how her struggles differ from the rest of the characters. as pocahontas, a teenage girl sexualized to appease an audience that want to fetishize her identity, she wants to bear children rather than be one because she believes it will grant her more autonomy over her own body. this starkly contrasts with sally, a struggling mother of 11 children living off of welfare cheques and still not being able to gain absolute agency over her life.
all injun joe wants is to receive proper education "like the whites", but when we consider fred we see a man reeling from the trauma of his time at a residential school. he got access to education (particularly an education that strived to indoctrinate Indigenous children into becoming more "like the whites" hayden taylor you genius....) but that education came with its consequences.
the depiction of them wanting to escape their realities and wishing for better lives and all their desires coming true but with their own modern-day repercussions was so well done; thought-provoking but hilarious in its delivery. 4.5 stars.