Charles is a property developer who has built private prisons in Iowa. He is also an art collector. The paintings in his house are not just hung up; they are “curated”. It is as if the art has been incarcerated on his walls.
Yet this man sees himself as one of the good guys. Claudia Rankine’s riveting play is like Yasmina Reza’s Art given political purpose. Charles is a white liberal who believes he is counterbalancing a history of racism by accumulating the work of black artists – amusingly rendered in written descriptions on the walls of Debbie Duru’s chic set.
