THE SHIPMENT was made in collaboration with Jordan Barbour, Mikéah Ernest Jennings, Okieriete Onaodowan, Prentice Onayemi, Douglas Scott Streater, and Amelia Workman. It is divided into two parts. The first half is structured like a minstrel show—dance, stand-up routine, sketches, and a song—and was written to address the stereotypes the cast members felt they had to deal with as Black performers. For the second half of the show, Lee asked the actors to come up with roles they’d always wanted to play, and wrote a naturalistic comedy in response to their requests.
- Photos Paula Court
- Video Production Company Thinklab
- Video Producer/Director Matt Daniels
- Camera Operators Jeremy Mackie, Ben Kasulke, Christian Hansen, and Miles Burnett
- Video Sound Mixer Adam Kutchman
- Video Editors Jeremy Mackie and Apryl Richards
- Color Correction Jeremy Mackie
- Post Audio Engineer Jason Alberts
- Titles and Animation Tania Kupczak
- Animation Music Ted Speaker
Written and Directed by Young Jean Lee with Jordan Barbour, Mikéah Ernest Jennings, Prentice Onayemi, Okieriete Onaodowan, Douglas Scott Streater, and Amelia Workman
Produced by Caleb Hammons
CAST
ORIGINALLY PERFORMED BY
- Mikéah Ernest Jennings
- Prentice Onayemi
- Okieriete Onaodowan
- Douglas Scott Streater
- Amelia Workman
SUBSEQUENTLY PERFORMED BY
- Jordan Barbour
- Victoire Charles
- Aundre Chin
- Francesca Choy-Key
- Jared McNeill
- Ikechukwu Ufomadu
DEVELOPED WITH
- Jordan Barbour
- Joi Anissa Favor
- JoiLynn
- Antyon Le Monte Smith
- Stephen McIntosh
CREW
- Associate Director Lee Sunday Evans
- Dramaturg Mike Farry
- Choreographer Faye Driscoll
- Scenic Designer David Evans Morris
- Costume Designer Roxana Ramseur
- Lighting Designer Mark Barton
- Sound Designer Matthew Tierney
- Stage Manager Teddy Nicholas
- Touring Stage Managers Sam Seymour and Aaron Rosenblum
- Stagehands Joseph John and Foteos Macrides
- Assistant Director Georgia X. Lifsher
- Assistant Scenic Designer Kate Foster
LIFT Festival, London, UK
June 2014
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Canada
May 2012
Fusebox Festival, Austin, TX (in association with Pro Arts Collective and Women and Their Work)
April 2011
deSingel, Antwerp, Belgium
February 2011
Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire
January 2011
Contemporary Drama Festival, Budapest, Hungary
December 2010
Williams College ’62 Center, Williamstown, MA
September 2010
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
September 2010
Sydney Opera House Vivid Live, Sydney, Australia
June 2010
Vienna Festival, Vienna, Austria
May 2010
Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
April 2010
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
March 2010
Carolina Performing Arts – UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
February 2010
Thalia-Theater, Hamburg, Germany
February 2010
Hebbel Am Ufer, Berlin, Germany
November 2009
Festival d’Automne à Paris, in association with Theatre de Gennevilliers Centre Dramatique National de Creation Contemporaine, Paris, France
November 2009
On the Boards, Seattle, WA
October 2009
Rotterdam Seschouwburg, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
September 2009
PICA TBA Festival, Portland, OR
September 2009
Zurich Theater Spektakel, Zurich, Switzerland
August 2009
Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels, Belgium
May 2009
The Kitchen, New York
January 2009
Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
October 2008
The Kitchen, New York (Workshop)
June 2008
Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Brooklyn, NY (Workshop)
April 2008
THE SHIPMENT was co-commissioned by the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University (World Premiere, October 2008) and The Kitchen (NYC Premiere, January 2009). This work has also been developed with support from the Rockefeller MAP Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, The Greenwall Foundation, The Tobin Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. With residency support from Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Collapsable Hole, IRT Theater, MacDowell Colony, New Dramatists, Orchard Project, and Yaddo. Production design support provided by The Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Foundation. It is also made possible in part by a grant from the Ford Foundation and the Association of Performing Arts Presenters Ensemble Theatre Collaborations Grant Program.