NAMES IN THE NEWS : Barry’s Plight Inspires Play

WASHINGTON — It’s not clear yet if Washington Mayor Marion Barry does or does not have a book or movie contract, but novelist Ishmael Reed seems to be the first one out with a satirical play based on the mayor’s arrest and trial.

Reed, acclaimed author, poet, critic and essayist who calls his writing style “neo-hoodooism,” has titled his play of Barry’s arrest “Savage Wilds, Part II.” It is to be performed at the BMT theater in Emeryville, Calif., next month. Reed, who has taught for a number of years at UC Berkeley, will read from his play at the Smithsonian on Aug. 21.

Author of such novels as “Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down” and “Mumbo Jumbo,” Reed said that “using fiction, I’m able to raise questions about the Barry case.” “Savage Wilds” is a broadly drawn assault on the prosecution of Barry, which Reed believes is a “case of a black man being scapegoated. I think when people have the sense to settle down and look back at this, the government will look worse.”