THE SHIPMENT was made in collaboration with an all-Black cast and 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.