This early play by Aurin Squire has been produced only once before, and that's a shame. A childhood memory play, Defacing Michael Jackson rejects issue-focused mass appeal to instead depict a moment as specific as it is pivotal in deciding the fates of the youths living in the squalid ghetto of Opa Locka (Florida) who look to rock superstar Michael Jackson for deliverance from the hostilities born of differing races, genders, sexual orientations, intellects, wealth and methods of (mostly bad) parenting. The result is an insightful observation on the complex roots of social disenfrancisement—it takes a village to raise or reject a child—deserving of consideration by theater companies whose audiences are ready to see beyond the stereotypes and sound bytes.
