The Last Minstrel Show

The Minstrel Show…
A spectacle in entertainment history that allowed average, everyday, red-blooded Americans to
become the “Other”...
Although this performance captivated audiences, many saw it for its true nature; a humiliating,
demeaning, and insulting interpretation of the lives of Black Americans. The songs, dances, and
dialog--all done comically--perpetuated stereotypes and encouraged prejudices that have lasted
generations.
The time of minstrel shows eventually came to an end, but the impacts were tremendous, manifesting in eras such as Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Segregation, and even in today’s
“post-racial” society...
Vincent Jackson, a biracial, white-passing Chicago police special investigations detective and soon-to-be District Attorney finds himself inspecting the appearance of a modern day minstrel
show after picking up one last case before his promotion; the strange death of Brian Witherspoon.
When Vince and his temporary partner--a hard-nosed, old school Irish detective named Donald Warren--visit the last known people to see Brian alive, his parents and his mistress, Vince realizes that there’s something happening in the shadows that nobody wants to talk about. Unsure
of what he will discover and what it will cost him, he presses on...Hoping to discover and disrupt this dark, twisted, and sick underground world.
Then, a breakthrough.
Vince meets Lucky; a charming, intriguing, and very mysterious foreign showman who is completely off the grid. Lucky makes a grand introduction, giving Vince a brief look into things
beyond this world, and then he swiftly escapes--leaving the detective with more unanswered questions than he started with.
Vince decides to hunt this new mystery man, but in doing so, he’s forced to confront a past and truth he thought he buried a long, long time ago. He’s left with a decision that needs to be made before his clock runs out: who will he be?
His true self; A Black man from the Cabrini Green Projects of Chicago...
Or...The “Other”.