/Theatre
The Great Khan
Event WebsiteAbout
Jayden, an African American teenager, just wants to be his game-playing, nerdy self. But after he saves a girl, Ant, from a sexual assault, he and his mother are forced to move to keep him safe from the boys who attacked her. While Jayden debates with himself if he should toughen up, Ant tries to reject the tough Black girl persona she has adopted. Both are trying to figure out how to define themselves in a culture that insists on seeing them as forever dangerous. Oh, and then Genghis Khan shows up. The Great Khan is a National New Play Network rolling world premiere.
SF/Arts Curator Insight
Yes, the “Khan” in the title of playwright Michael Gene Sullivan’s new comedy is indeed Genghis Khan, he who founded the Mongol Empire back in the early 13th century. It remains to be seen what exactly he’s doing in a play about a couple of Black teenagers struggling with culturally specific coming-of-age issues. This world premiere is an SF Playhouse/SF Mime Troupe coproduction; Sullivan’s the longtime Mime Troupe playwright. Darryl V. Jones directs.
Jean Schiffman
Contributing Writer, Theater
San Francisco Playhouse