Show/Boat: A River – 18 January 2025

Show/Boat: A River is Target Margin’s reimagining of the classic Showboat. The production was marketed as a more honest look at the African Americans who propped up not just the simple romance between White characters who had it easier in the Oscar Hammerstein II original rendition, as well as a rewrite that incorporated their stories alongside the original story to give voice to characters who are ignored once they have served their purpose. To put it bluntly: this production didn’t actually do that. I had a hard time making sense out of the way the actors doubled (and at times two actresses played one part?), and the wonderfully expansive ideas were difficult to grasp because the plot was muddy and confusing. Ultimately, Show/Boat: A River is a production that got in its own way with confusing casting choices, directorial difficulties, and musical mistakes.

Casting choices made a difference with this production, as actors playing White characters were always marked with a sash or a ribbon. The show begins with a couple facing criminal consequences for their interracial marriage, even though both of them are assumed to be White-passing. At least, I made that assumption because others on the riverboat seemed not to know. Later on in the show, we have a Black woman with blond hair playing a cisgender White man in a marriage to an actress who is White and female presenting. In a text that had such strong feelings about a single drop of blood, it was confusing to see a situation that violated the meaningful dialogue regarding what it means to be societally proper. It was difficult to accept and understand a show that didn’t play by its own rules and tried to fly under the radar rather than acknowledge the double standards that were selected to be part of this nontraditional casting.

The primary reason I go to the theatre is to feel something. I was unable to do so at this production because I was unable to feel connected to any of the characters, as none of them seemed particularly connected to each other. The characters seldom talked to each other, but rather were directed to face out towards the audience most of the time. I didn’t feel invested in any of the characters or their relationships, so it was impossible to move me emotionally. This felt like a presentation rather than a play. I also had no idea what the Black characters’ beautiful musical moments had to do with the White characters who were telling a narrative story about a girl who fell in love with a gambler who broke her heart. I couldn’t piece together how anyone was related to anyone else except the primary lovebirds. In other words, from a directorial standpoint, this show could not stand on its own without a very thorough knowledge of the source material.

My final critique is related to music, primarily orchestration and arrangements. Simply put, reeds, cello, guitar, and bass? Lengthy single note passages? No percussion? Vocal lines almost always in unison?  So many elements of the arrangements felt like confusing compromise—an attempt to keep the orchestral feeling with the reeds but modernize it with occasional use of electric instruments? These arrangements were quirky at best, and, when coupled with the barebones set and lighting, it really felt like no one had given any thought to what the production would need to feel like in order for the audience to be invested and engaged in the very valid philosophical criticism of Showboat.

I had a lot of hope for this production, as the conversation it wanted to start about the difference between the people who do the work and the people who get the credit, not only in theatre, but in the world at large, is important. As advertised, there are conversations that need to be had about our golden age classics that many of us would like to sweep under the rug because we love the songs. I really wish I could tell you that this production was a part of that conversation, but, for the sake of journalistic integrity, I found the production confusing, difficult to follow, lacking emotional connection, etc. because it tried to make too many changes and statements at once instead of focusing on sending one clear message that could lead to a wider conversation.

I attended this performance on a press pass from Helene Davis PR.