Set in 1910 New Orleans, the show is about bigotry, racism and misogyny. It's the perfect show in today's political climate. Josie Mac Rae, an 18 year old very light skinned Octoroon girl, the illegitimate daughter of the Octoroon cook and the white owner of a plantation in Natchez, MS, is sent to New Orleans to attend the Octoroon ball where the rich white men of New Orleans go to pick out their mistresses. She looks around and notices that she's as white as anyone on the train. She decides then and there to try to pass as white, reinvent her past, marry a rich white boy and live happily ever after. She almost succeeds. Getting off of the train at the wrong stop, she is befriended by Lulu White, the proprietress of Mahogany Hall, the finest of all the brothels in the Storyville section of New Orleans. She is introduced to Judge Roy Prudhomme, the mover and shaker of New Orleans. She falls in love with his son, Edward, and is poised to spend the rest of her life in luxury while being at the top of society when someone from Natchez recognizes her. Her life is turned upside down and she's forced to work as a prostitute to survive. She proves her love for Edward by taking a bullet meant for him.
Source
