...And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi

…And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi is a 2010 play by Marcus Gardley. The play is a reimagining of the Greek myth of Persephone and Demeter.^[1]

Plot

…And Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi is set on the banks of the Mississippi River during the Civil War. A lynched African-American man named Damascus is immediately resurrected as a woman named Demeter, who only has three days to find her daughter Po'em and transmit her song before she has to return to death.^[2]

Characters

The Quilter

• Miss Ssippi is a beautifully large, black woman. She gives new meaning to the word elegance, although she appears over-worked and always on the run.

The Threads

• Free Girl is ten, half black and half white. Her face is caked in white powder and her hair is always tied up. She wears a tea dress.

• Blance Verse or Blanchie is also ten and white. She wears short pants and an old army vest, which hangs loosely on her.

• Cadence Marie Verse is Blanche’s mother. She is white and old enough to be embarrassed by her age. She is always dolled up: blush on the cheeks, rouge on the lips and gin on the tongue.

• Jean Verse is a thin, white romantic. He wears a white silk shirt, Confederate slacks and a dark fedora. His voice is like the wind; it caters to the trees.

• Demeter is old enough to die wise. She is black, with silver her hair and smooth skin. She is built like a good man, one who’s been fighting all her life. She wears a tattered petticoat, ripped slacks and a headscarf. Damascus is her former being.

• Yankee Pot Roast is juicy, with lots of fat hanging off him. He is white and red all over.

• Jesus is black, a warm beauty. He wears sandals and a robe. The actor that plays him also plays The Great Tree.

• Brer Rabit is the House Negro.^[3]

Influence

The play is based on the story of Persephone and her mother, the goddess of the harvest Demeter.^[4]

References