A review by archytas
Savage Conversations by LeAnne Howe

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was much trippier than I had expected it to be, and to some extent, reinforced that I don't really excel at reading plays: my brain struggles to bring the scene to life. Having said that, I came in with very high expectations: I loved LeAnne Howe's Shell Shaker to little bits, and I am fascinated, as many are, with Mary Todd Lincoln, so a play looking at her haunting by a Dakota victim of her husband, felt irresistible.
The play has some compelling dialogue, mostly from the character named only "Savage Indian" and the unforgettable repetition of the "the Rope Seethes". But I struggled more with Todd's role in the text - a figure of extreme emotions - and the mixing of themes of filicide and genocide, Todd's crimes and her husband's. Howe's research is excellent, and she gets a lot of nuances in around this - from Todd's family to where the Lincolns were aligned - but the price is that it becomes hard to follow the train in a short work with a lot packed in. I guess I got more out of it as an essay than a drama.
Still - I'd be keen to see a performance, just to get what I was missing.