Carl Hancock Rux

Highlighted Play

Talk, 2003

Archer Aymes, a controversial African-American artist who rose to fame during the age of McCarthy and the Beat poets, caused a big stir in the literary and art world with his first book, “Mother and Son”. Ten years later, he was found dead in a prison cell. Now, decades later, a young man has brought together a group of individuals, each with their own unique connection to Aymes, to discuss his life and work, as well as the meaning of his legacy. Over the course of the evening, the panelists’ competing memories and timelines add to the mysterious, enigmatic nature of the man. Themes of memory, identity, and race are prevalent in the play. Indeed, the intersection of history, myth, and social and racial constructs can be found at the heart of this play.

Educational Application

This play could be used effectively alongside the Greek play Bacchai, from which Rux pulls inspiration. Comparing and contrasting the two plays and their respective environments could give the students more insight into the themes than if reading them separately.

Discussion Questions

1. What do the questions surrounding Aymes’ racial identity have to do with his work and its reception?

2. How do politics and cultural history interplay with Aymes’ work and life?

3. The fictional book within the play, Mother and Son, begins just after the birth of the son and describes the mother sobbing “at the great distance between them as he lay on her breast, new and growing old and covered in blood…” How does this passage speak to the greater themes of birth, creation, and mothers and sons in the play?

4. Why are there competing timelines and memories? How is the instability of memory and myth used in the play? What does it accomplish, if anything?

5. The play is inspired by a Greek tragedy. How is Aymes similar to a mythical hero?

6. What was the moderator’s intention in bringing together this group to discuss Aymes? Did he get what he wanted in the end?

7. What is the symbolism of the setting, the Museum of Antiquities? How does it fit in with some of the play’s themes?

Sample Activity

Turn the classroom into a forum using the Socratic Method. With Talk as the target text, this activity is appropriate for high school. However, it can be tailored to middle-school and even elementary classrooms.

Preparing for the Forum

1. Ensure your students are able to effectively dissect the text and pull out main ideas, themes, imagery, subtext, etc.

   • Providing students with a template to organize these elements is suggested to make the lesson more accessible to those who struggle with abstract ideas.

2. Teach your students how to craft meaningful questions that enhance the discussion.

   • Questions should be open-ended and lead to further questions and ideas. Use the discussion questions as a point of reference.

The Forum

1. Arrange the desks in a circle so the students can all face each other. If the class is large enough (10 +), divide the students into 2 groups to form a smaller inner circle and a larger outer circle. The inner circle represents the speakers and are the ones who will answer and discuss the questions offered. The outer circle represent the recorders who will take notes on what is said. The roles will switch halfway through the session (If fewer than 10 students, you may want to have just one circle of speakers).

2. The teacher acts as a moderator who asks the prepared questions one at a time. When the discussion starts to lag, the teacher can offer up another question. However, it is important that the students are allowed to lead the discussions without the teacher's input.

3. Once the forum concludes, have the students reflect on the overall process, specifically how this style of textual exploration enhanced the students' understanding of the play, or did not.

Bibliography

Bayeza, I. (2021). Carl Hancock Rux: Marking History, Juneteenth 2021 at Lincoln Center. The Massachusetts Review. https://doi.org/https://www.massreview.org/node/10128

Blankenship, M. (2006, October 12). Mycenaean. Variety. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://variety.com/2006/legit/reviews/mycenaean-1200512721/

Elam, Michele. "Chapter Five. “They’s mo’ to bein’ black than meets the eye!”: Performing Mixed Race in Dave Chappelle’s “The Racial Draft” and Carl Hancock Rux’s Talk". The Souls of Mixed Folk: Race, Politics, and Aesthetics in the New Millennium, Redwood City: Stanford University Press, 2011, pp. 160-204. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804777308-009

Gibbons, R., & Segal, C. (2001). Introduction. In Bakkhai. essay, Oxford University Press.

Hirsch, A. (2021, October 1). An artist in search of himself - and US. Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2001-06-08-0106080175-story.html

Jefferson, M. (2002, April 21). The feel of real life working its magic. The New York Times. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/21/theater/theater-the-feel-of-real-life-working-its-magic.html

Mattioli, Nadja. (2018). The Bacchae Now and Then - Embracing the Dionysian Selves. 10.13140/RG.2.2.26049.10086.

Phillips, M. (2020, October 27). Black art and poetry elevate a tribute to civil rights leaders. The New York Times. Retrieved March 13, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/arts/design/the-baptism-weems-rux-video.html?searchResultPosition=17

"Carl Hancock Rux: Ideas, words, all spilling off the table," by Don Shewey. (n.d.). Retrieved March 13, 2022, fromhttps://www.donshewey.com/theater_articles/rux.html

Stapleton, Lara. (2004, May). Carl Hancock Rux with Lara Stapleton. The Brooklyn Rail.

Information for this webpage complied by Renee Troxler, 2022