I was intrigued when Mercury Theater Chicago announced that Artistic Director Christopher Chase Carter would be staging BIG RIVER, a 1984 musical adapted from Mark Twain’s ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN. It seemed like an odd and bold choice given that it’s rarely produced and also given that it’s questionable if that novel ever needed to become a musical (but so it is, with book by William Hauptman and music and lyrics by Roger Miller). Watching BIG RIVER, I was struck by how oddball of a show it is. While Mark Twain’s novel was considered ahead of its time for depicting the adventures of plucky young Huck Finn and the runaway slave Jim, it’s still undoubtedly fraught. It’s hard not to watch the show and think that Huck has a strong case of “white savior” syndrome, and obviously for 2023 audiences, watching Huck’s moral dilemma about running away with a slave and worrying about Jim as “stolen property” is uncomfortable. In keeping with Twain’s novel, the musical also has frequent use of the “n-word.” That’s true to the source material, but it’s tough to hear nonetheless (Mercury’s lobby display helps explain the context of the show’s language and setting, but that underscores why BIG RIVER is a strange choice to stage).
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