But Harris doesnt mind if people call his play controversial so long as they dont dismiss it.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How have you been feeling since the show opened on Broadway?
JEREMY O. HARRIS:It still all feels so deeply surreal.
Credit: Matthew Murphy
Its really been a lot to take in.
Youve now done three different stagings ofSlave Play,and had three rounds of reception to it.
How has this one compared to the previous two?
Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
Then it premiered, and we had a line down the block at school.
I think that the Twitter backlash came from people who hadnt seen it.
And I think that a lot of that came from seeing it on Broadway.
Because we just had the most riotous night in the theater that Ive ever experienced, at least.
I wanted to ask what that night was like, experiencing the play with that audience.
I think thats the closest to a catharsis Ive had in this process.
That, for me, is the height of my passion, and my greatest goal right now.
I definitely think it is.
I think that we see that happen all the time with Broadway, slowly but surely.
Some critics have saidSlave Playis designed to make you uncomfortable, or that its provocative, or controversial.
Do you take issue with those characterizations?
I take issue with very few things.
you might use anything as an instrument for whatever you need, right?
Thats the function of the play.
So the dramatic action is around what self-actualizing costs, and what self-actualizing looks like inside of a history.
Because the discomfort of self-actualization is the discomfort thats felt by every single person that witnesses it.
Do you hear a lot from people who have seen the show, and what do they tell you?
I think thats the most amazing thing.
Slave Playis playing at the Golden Theatre through Jan. 19.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
