The Firehall Arts Centre launches its 37th anniversary season with SpeakEasy Theatre’s powerful and provocative comedy, The Shipment, opening Wednesday, September 25th.
The Shipment is written by award-winning Korean-American playwright Young Jean Lee. The play is a subversive modern minstrel show about Black identity meant to wake the world to the ridiculous narratives in dominant media. Five Black actors – Andrew Creightney, Chris Francisque, Omari Newton, Adrian Neblett, and Kiomi Pyke – play a roster of characters that reads like a bad b-list of Black iconography: Video Ho, Crackhead John, Bad Cop, Standup Comedian, Drug Dealer Mama, Grandma from Heaven, and Record Company Executive, to name just a few. The brazen mash-up of these stereotypes with clichés, distortions, and brilliant sleights of hand all force us to go beyond the lampoon and shift the lens through which we perceive race in order to confront our own bias.
photo: Jens Kristian Balle
“Young Jean Lee is one of America’s most fearless and exciting playwrights,” says Firehall Arts Centre’s Artistic Producer, Donna Spencer. “In her writing, she is not afraid to tackle difficult subject matter and does so with humour and intelligence. When SpeakEasy Theatre first produced The Shipment, I was privileged to sit in a sold-out performance and watch the audience shift in their seats, uncomfortably, and then laugh out loud a few moments later. The work engaged them and made them consider. I am proud to share this playwright’s work and this talented company of artists with Firehall audiences.”
The original production received five Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards nominations and a Best Actor win for Omari Newton, The Shipment is biting satire at its very best, and is set to shake up your perceptions of the subject matter. The Shipment runs September 25 to October 5, 2019 at The Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova Street. Tickets are available online at firehallartscentre.ca
CONTEST – This contest is now closed…thank you for entering.
The kind folks at Firehall Arts Centre want you to witness this cutting-edge comedy for yourself, so they are giving a lucky reader a pair of tickets to to join us on Opening Night of The Shipment on September 25th at 7:30pm
To enter the contest:
Leave a comment below telling us the person who would share your Oktoberfest experience (1 entry)
Follow @jminter and Tweet the Following & Tag a Theatre Buddy (1 entry) :
#CONTEST RT to #Win a pair of tickets to @FirehallArtsCte season opening production of #TheShipment from @SETheatreCo via @jminter http://ow.ly/w9xD30pxysT #giveaway #prize #Theatre
Contest entries will be accepted until Noon on Monday, September 16, 2019.
One winner will be chosen at random.
