The Magic Negro Play Analysis

Stand-up comedy, theater play, or even community play is not very common in Cameroon. There, most comedians perform during social celebrations such as weddings, birthday parties, or in cabaret. In other words, there is no known performing theater hall in Cameroon. Therefore, I was amazed, when I attended Mark Kendall comedy special entitled “the magic negro and other blackness” at the Stillwell theater at Kennesaw State University.

The magic negro and other blackness is a one-man show performed by Mark Kendall. In this play, Mark portrays some of the struggles of the African American community in America, and the play lays emphasis on racial discrimination between the white community and the black community. During the play, Mark, impersonate different characters to make a point. He invites only white members of the audience to join him on stage.

The environment of the Stillwell theater gives an excellent seating setting for the audience. On stage, the light will go off and on enabling the performer to either change character or costumes.
A cultural connection during this play was when the performer mimics slave trade during the 1800. I found this scene very disturbing because it reminded me of my great-grandfather who fought for the independence of Cameroon but was capture by the colonial masters and kill because he was among those who were fighting for independence. what really disturbed me, was the fact that almost everybody in the audience was laughing about it, so they saw it funny, but they could have shown empathy to this dark side of history. There is nothing funny about slavery, not even in