Beautifully written, stunning retelling of the Oedipus myth. ( )

Rita Dove is primarily a poet but has also written a collection of short stories, a novel, and this play which has been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington in addition to other places. This review is for the completely revised second edition of the play.

The Darker Face of the Earth somehow was not quite what I expected although I don’t know what I expected. In some ways it is a classical play since it makes use of a chorus, and some of the characters have classical names. The play takes place on a plantation in South Carolina primarily in 1840 although the Prologue takes place in 1820. The unusual features of this play are that the plantation belongs to a woman who inherited it from her father; her husband does not own or manage it. Moreover, in the Prologue the woman gives birth to a biracial baby boy, whom she agrees to give away. Her husband will no longer have anything to do with her, and spends the rest of the play in his study. Thus, we have a white plantation woman as the central character doing things that are more often associated with men on plantations. The main body of the play is centered around the running of the plantation and of a new male slave's appearing, with whom the female plantation owner spends considerable time. The play ends with a slave revolt and a revealing of relationships. ( )