| An incendiary piece of political theatre, AIN’T NO MO’ is, at its best, furiously funny. Jordan E. Cooper has a lot on his very young, very sharp mind. Even better than his mind is his memory which is of the crucial ancestral variety. Here, all African Americans may return to the motherland for free, as if the cost hasn’t long since been exacted. The play, a bit more overwrought on Broadway than at the Public in 2019, favors anarchic speed over deliberation in its depictions of aspects of black experience and racial trauma. There’s a lot to savor here, but there’s no time for ponderousness; there’s a plane to catch. Of course, in the time worn tradition of cultural appropriation, maybe you can go home again, but all the products of your influence—emotional, cultural, historical—stay put, their genesis potentially forgotten. Despite some awkward tonal shifts, AIN’T NO MO’ is a bright, encouraging work. In all senses of the word, a riot. Is Broadway ready? |
