Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins turned America on its head in 2014 when his OBIE Award-winning play, “An Octoroon,” debuted. “An Octoroon” reboots the plot of the 19th-century play “The Octoroon” by Dion Boucicault. Jacobs-Jenkins adds humor to the melodrama about a forbidden love story and smartly inserts himself among the characters. “An Octoroon” is a pre-Civil War story set in the Deep South about a slave owner who falls in love with a woman whose blood is one-eighth black. The essence and spirit of the original play is revived through a variety of theatrical elements, including the use of black and white face. “An Octoroon” received critical acclaim on and off Broadway—and now, Philadelphia-based director Joanna Settle takes her turn with the powerful work at the Wilma Theatre. Runs from March 16 through April 10.