A review by vandekrol
Black Jesus by Anders Lustgarten

5.0

I saw "Black Jesus" performed at the Finborough Theatre, where Anders Lustgarten is playwright in residence, and then read the script again to make sure I caught everything. It is set in the very near future in Zimbabwe as the nation is trying to deal with the atrocities that were forced upon them and through them under Mugabe's dictatorship. The play is incredibly powerful and I was shocked to learn later that after flying to Zimbabwe and having a successor piece of his performed there, Lustgarten decided to tone it down so that it wouldn't be so arduous to watch. Yet even with the unfathomable horrors and smothering corruption, hope, somehow, finds a way to keep working.