Going into Race: The Movie: The Play, I was skeptical. What could possibly be said about racial-harmony movies like Green Book and Django Unchained that hasn’t already been said in snarky Tweets? Anyway, Green Book was released five years ago now, and it seems like even more of a relic in a post-COVID world. Why now?
I needn’t have worried. Co-writers Bret Raybould and Cristian Duran, with Duran at the helm directing and Raybould co-starring alongside “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Dean Edwards, have put together a breezy, laugh-out-loud satire that starts with a Green Book-type plot and tackles everything from racial slurs to cancel culture to Disney IP. With a huge cast, goofy stage fighting, and plenty of knowing asides to the audience, it makes for a fun, thought-provoking ninety minutes at Soho Playhouse.
This self-aware show addresses the elephant in the room head-on with a pre-show announcement: Raybould is white, and Duran half-Black. Raybould even goes so far as to bill himself as “Random White Guy” on the poster and Playbill. Raybould’s character, the uncouth Wyatt Saveyer, constantly reminds everyone that he is only sort of white – he’s Italian!
It’s the 1850s and Wyatt is hired to drive the intellectual Gene Yus (Edwards) through what could be considered the “Deep South” (Pennsylvania and Maryland). Wyatt prefers to spend his time “telegramming” his wife sexy emoticons, leading the duo into a wagon accident. Everything goes awry from there, with Wyatt accidentally texting the KKK instead of AAA.
The story somehow continues to heighten its absurdity: Gene, kidnapped and sold at a slave auction, must deal with horrifying, idiosyncratic owners; Wyatt is sent to a Black-run plantation; they join forces with a suave character named Django (“the D is pronounced”); and against all odds everyone ends up in Kawanda, a Black utopia.
It’s all very risky and, at times, risque – Duran and Raybould interrupt one particularly bold scene to ask themselves if it’s too much. But, on top of being a pointed satire, it’s a deft meta commentary on many contemporary films, with talented actors like accomplished New York comics Derek Humphrey, Eagle Witt, Nick Whitmer, Menuhin Hart, Quan Wiggins and Andre D. Thompson who are having fun, despite the heavy subject matter. Ultimately, the show asks why these movies, and real life, center white saviors who only care about their own inconvenience.
If there’s one weak spot, it’s that Edwards and Raybould’s characters are separated for much of the middle stretch of the play. The two make for a compelling duo, with Edwards playing Gene as a soft-spoken but witty intellectual and Raybould painting Wyatt as a chaotic deadbeat who’s occasionally just as racist as the villains.
I’d love to see them work together more.
Duran and Raybould have pulled off something that is, if not impossible, extremely difficult: a comedic look at race that will have broad audience appeal. This fascinating show should have life beyond its current downtown run.
Final Verdict: A. You should “race” to this show — there are only six more performances at the Soho Playhouse on Wednesday, May 25, Thursday, May 25, Friday, May 26 and Saturday, May 27 as well as Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3.
All shows start at 9 p.m. and run approximately 98 minutes.
Other funny shows on Broadway
If you can’t make it out to “Race” until after the edgy show crosses its finish line, you need not worry.
There are quite a few comedic productions on Broadway that can scratch your funny bone’s itch all year long.
Here are just five of our favorite comedies currently running in midtown Manhattan.
Need even more Broadway in your life? Check out our list of the 13 biggest shows opening on the Great White Way in 2023 here.