It's a relatively simple if swashbuckling tale. Governor's daughter is captured by pirates. Governor killed by rival, daughter double-crossed. Daughter who used to despise her pirate captors becomes their leader and plots her revenge. It's Backstage Theater Company’s revival of Bloody Bess: A Tale of Piracy and Revenge. Conceived by Chicago's famed Organic Theater in the early 1970's, it features themes of radical feminism and black power intertwined with blades and breeches. Here to tell us if this latest version of Bloody Bess will elicit an ARRRRG! or an OY! are Eight Forty-Eight's dueling critics Jonathan Abarbanel and Kelly Kleiman.
Bloody Bess: A Tale of Piracy and Revenge at Storefront Theater on Randolph through July 20th.