Sometimes after a play or a musical, the writer or director or actors will come out and talk to the audience.

Answer questions about the show, have a discussion.

These chats are usually nice and collegial.

But there was one, a few weeks ago, after a performance of a broadly played called Slave Play,

that went off the rails.

So Slave Play, it is all about the racial drama, present, and interracial relationships.

The playwright is Jeremy O'Harris, he is black and gay, and in a recent talkback after Slave Play,

a white woman in the audience tried to tell him that his play was racist against white people, racist against her.

I don't like here that white people are the f***ing play because you're talking about black people.

He was not having it.

This play is about eight specific people.

And if you don't see yourself up here, then that's great. You want one of them.

This went on for a while.

The loud woman kept yelling, the crowd kept trying to shut her out.

Eventually, she walked out to applause.

What is it about Jeremy O'Harris and Slave Play that causes that strong of a reaction?

In a space that for a long time has been pretty pun intended.

Drama free.

I am Sam Sanders, you are listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR.

Today we pose that question in many others to Jeremy O'Harris himself.

Jeremy O'Harris is not your average Broadway playwright.

He is just as comfortable in the spotlight as he is in the writer's room.

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