An Evening in Black and White From a Playwright Who Is Neither

An Evening in Black and White From a Playwright Who Is Neither

By PATRICK HEALY

Many playwrights dread sitting among their audiences: Nothing is quite as soul-killing as overhearing people savage your work in midperformance. But not Young Jean Lee.

Night after night this month at the Kitchen, the downtown Manhattan theater, she has gritted her teeth and felt her skin crawl at times while white and black audience members have audibly reacted — often along racial lines — to her new play, “The Shipment.”

Not that Ms. Lee is a masochist. She is, rather, a Korean-American writer who set out to challenge theatergoers over their own racial biases (conscious and otherwise) by working with black actors to create a play that explores African-American stereotypes, experiences, and their history as minstrel players. The title is based on a rap song that is about a shipment of drugs but that Ms. Lee said she felt also evoked the African slave trade. read more...[NYT]