The Black History Museum… According to the USA
By Andrew Andrews
The amount of effort that’s gone into this production is a bit astounding for its price. The entirety of the venue has been transformed, with some areas every bit as good as an actual museum, and others more resembling an amusement-type atmosphere.
It’s obvious that a ton of research has gone into the exhibits as well as the stories, with the result being completely entertaining and not feeling the least bit like a lecture or a diatribe.
The multi-disciplinary performers are all extremely talented, and the costumes have been carefully-crafted to balance historical accuracy, whimsy and just the right amount of stereotyping to make subtle points about bigotry.
Although the piece felt a bit slow at times and there were a few minor slips here and there, what most impressed me about this show is the tremendous level of audience engagement, which far exceeds that of most other so-called “immersive” experiences. And though participants are divided up for much of the performance, it seems the groups simply take different paths through the same environment, so there’s no need to worry about missing something that happened to another pack but not your own.
Andrew Andrews attended The Black History Museum… According to the USA at HERE Arts Center in New York on Thursday, November 7, 2019 @ 5:00pm to write this review.