Venus

Susan-Lori Parks' 'Venus' dramatizes and reinterprets the life of Sarah Bartman, a Khoikhoi woman exhibited in 19th-century Europe as a spectacle.

Parks interrogates how colonialism, racism, and fetishization transformed a human life into entertainment and scientific curiosity.

The play blends historical fragments with inventive theatrical techniques to reclaim agency and voice for its subject.

Through fragmented narrative and lyrical language, Parks challenges established histories and the ethics of representation.

'Venus' is both a critique of past exploitation and a powerful act of artistic restitution.