Venus

Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents Venus, by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Jess McLeod, and featuring Carolyn Hoerdemann, Mildred Marie Langford, Jeff Parker, Michael Pogue, Ann Sonneville and John Stokvis.

In 1810, a young black woman named Saartje Baartman traveled from South Africa to England in search of fame and riches. She ended up notorious as the “Hottentot Venus,” a sideshow novelty billed as having the "biggest bottom in the world."

With a brilliant mix of vaudeville, spectacle and poetry, Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks puts her own slant on the story of this provocative figure in a masterpiece of unsettling drama.