Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism

Abstract:

This article considers the frictive intersections of creative decisions and their temporal consequences in the musical Hamilton. Lauded and criticized in its attempt to tell "the story of America then" by "America now"—an oft-quoted statement from creator Lin-Manuel Miranda—we are concerned centrally with what Hamilton does for the present in 2020. We argue that the slippages between Black aesthetics, bodies, and politics both on and offstage; then and now, illustrate a series of temporal dissonances that pervade the racialized and immigrant narratives authorized by Hamilton. Throughout our polyphonic consideration of Hamilton's, America's, and our own various tempos and rhythms, we ask: how does the past become a fabulation of a future (never) to come?