Venus

Venus is a play by Suzan-Lori Parks, published in 1996 and first performed the same year. Suzan-Lori Parks is a notable American playwright, known for works such as Topdog/Underdog, as well as screenplays, such as Girl 6 and Their Eyes Were Watching God. Venus reimagines the life of Saartjie Baartman, also known as Sarah Baartman, who was shown in exhibits across Europe as the Hottentot Venus in the early 19th century. The play addresses themes of The Exploitation and Commodification of Black Female Bodies, The Construction and Manipulation of Historical Narratives, and Colonialism and Racism as Motivations and Obsessions.

The initial production of Venus was produced by George C. Wolfe and ran for 22 performances at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York. Venus was also performed in 2017 at the Signature Theater in New York, directed by Lear deBessenot. The play won the 1995-96 Obie Award. Adina Porter, who played Saartjie Baartman in the original 1996 performance, also won an Obie for Distinguished Performance by an Actress.

This guide uses the e-book Kindle edition, published by the Theatre Communications Group in 1997.

Content Warning: This guide describes and discusses the text’s treatment of racism, enslavement, sexual coercion and assault, and death by suicide, as well as racist language and outdated terminology for race and gender.

Plot Summary

The play has 31 scenes that are numbered in reverse. For the sake of continuity and clarity, this numbering is mirrored in the guide.

The play opens with the characters announcing and lamenting the Venus’s death. They inform the gathered crowd that the show is canceled, and they speculate on why the Venus died, proposing alcohol misuse or exposure. The crowd gawks at the Venus’s body, and some spectators accuse the Venus of being sinful. The play then moves back in time to the point when the Girl, Saartjie Baartman, agrees to go to England.

The Brother and the Man agree to bring the Girl to England for an exhibition, both wanting to make money off the Girl’s appearance. The Girl has large buttocks, and the Brother wants to brand the Girl as a dancing African princess. The Brother claims to be in love with the Girl, and they have sex. In England, the Girl is put in a dark room with the 8 Human Wonders, who are “freaks” in the Mother-Showman’s exhibition. The Girl believes she is going to make a lot of money from the show, and she has sex with the Brother, thinking she has a contract with him. However, the Brother leaves the Girl in the care of the Mother-Showman, who tells the Girl to clean herself and rebrands her as the Venus Hottentot, or the Venus.

The Venus quickly becomes the star act of the Mother-Showman’s exhibition, drawing huge crowds that are mystified by her large buttocks. Many people pay extra to poke and prod at the Venus, and the text implies that the Mother-Showman also allows people to sexually assault the Venus. After the Mother-Showman earns a large sum of money from the Venus, the Venus demands a greater share of the wealth, but the Mother-Showman refuses. Instead, the Mother-Showman insists on doing a Whirlwind Tour, traveling from town to town with the exhibition. During this time, the Baron Docteur takes an interest in the Venus, and he purchases her from the Mother-Showman.

The Baron Docteur does not exhibit the Venus directly, instead bringing her to Paris, where anatomists at the Academy study her. The Baron Docteur claims he is in love with the Venus, and he begins a sexual relationship with her. The Venus is uncomfortable at the Academy, noting how the Anatomists touch her, alluding to sexual assault, but the Baron Docteur dismisses these claims. The Grade-School Chum approaches the Baron Docteur, letting him know how his marriage and reputation are being damaged by his relationship with the Venus. The Baron Docteur does not want to end his relationship with the Venus, but he realizes that he needs to perform an autopsy on the Venus to further his medical career.

The Baron Docteur and the Grade-School Chum agree to get the Venus arrested for indecency, and she dies in jail. After her death, the Baron Docteur performs an autopsy and publishes a work focusing on the Venus’s genitalia, earning him fame in his field. After her death, a cast is made of the Venus, which remains in a museum with her skeleton. The play ends with a repetition of the Overture, in which characters announce the Venus’s death, lament that there is no show, and continue to gawk at the Venus’s body.