Play review – “The Emperor Jones” by Eugene O’Neill

Starts with a thrilling scene. A white trader arrives at a village in the West Indies, he meets “Emperor Jones” – an African American ex-prisoner who has bluffed his way into being a ruler of the village, has fleeced the local population and is prepared to leave. But everyone has gone, fled to the hills and a local tribesman out for his head, and its time for Jones to make tracks. Other O’Neill plays amble along a bit more but here throws you right into it. The play never really builds on this high level of excitement but its always interesting: the second section is mainly Jones being lost in the jungle, going bonkers (visions, expressionism), and the final bit involves the local tribesman. It’s a fascinating subject: a black American ripping off black West Indians, discovering his dignity, a bit reminiscent of The Man Who Would Be King. Is it racist? Well, Jones is a kind of negative character but so is the white trader – but he does panic and go mad in the jungle, a “darkie” reverting to savage. This presumably explains why the play is rarely revived despite its action, excitement and great lead role. I would love for Spike Lee to have a go at remaking this (his Bamboozled touched on a similar sort of story: black man rises to success by using white man like methods of exploitation against black men, is brought undone by extremist black man.)