The Shipment and Lear

by Young Jean Lee

"A subversive, seriously funny new theater piece by the adventurous playwright Young Jean Lee. . . . Ms. Lee does not shy away from prodding the audience's racial sensitivities--or insensitivities--in a style that is sometimes sly and subtle, sometimes as blunt as a poke in the eye."--Charles Isherwood, "The New York Times""Lee is a facetious provocateur; she does whatever she can to get under our skins--with laughs and with raw, brutal talk . . . [and with] so ingenious a twist, such a radical bit of theatrical smoke and mirrors, that we are forced to confront our own preconceived notions of race."--Hilton Als, "The New Yorker"With "The Shipment," her latest work taking on identity politics, Young Jean Lee "confirms herself as one of the best experimental playwrights in America" ("Time Out New York"). The Korean American theater artist has taken on cultural images of black America, in a play that begins with sketches of African American cliches--an angry, foul-mouthed comedian; an aspiring young rapper who ends up in prison--and ends with a seemingly naturalistic parlor comedy, which slyly reveals the larger game Lee is playing, leaving us to consider the many ways that we see the world through a racial lens.Young Jean Lee is a playwright, director, and artistic director of her own OBIE Award-winning theater company, which as been producing her plays since 2003. Her other works include "Songs of Dragons Flying to Heaven," "Church," "The Appeal," and "Pullman, WA," and they have been produced across the country and internationally.

Genres: Plays, Drama, Theatre, School

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Aidan Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

i hated The Shipment until i read a bajillion essays about it and suddenly it’s theater genius

[Kerri Killeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/4

Young Jean Lee confronts the audience and biases head on. Funny and brutal at the same time, each of these works are marked by brilliant shifts in genre.

Seeing her work live has allowed me to appreciate it. When I first read The Shipment I hated it. It’s still not a favorite, but her handiwork and gall cannot be underestimated.

Lear is brilliantly dark and clever; a meta theatrical and slightly absurd example of what modern inspiration of Shakespeare can be.

[Colin Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both The Shipment and Lear are ambitious, experimental plays that grapple with race, racism, and narratives about race in disarming, at times irreverent, but ultimately satisfying ways. However, I want to caveat this point: The Shipment is far better than Lear, and as much as I try to avoid categorical denunciations of anything I read, I cannot help but think that Lear is a conceptual misstep. I want to read Lear again because it is possible I missed something. The Shipment is precise is its critique of popular black narratives, but Lear, by contrast, is a meandering, disordered mess. To Lee’s credit, Lear ends with a rousing and intimate coda that certainly saves the play from being an utter failure, but the coda is not enough.

I want to read more of Lee’s work because there is a lot to like in both plays. If and when I reread Lear, I will update this review, but for now, I leave this two-play volume with far less enthusiasm than when I started it.

[Douglas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Experimental theatre is best performed.

The Shipment is provocative, though as text on a page it too often reads as mock stereotype. The added dimension of performance would, no doubt, raise this to truly thought provoking. Would love to see it on stage.

Lear, on the other hand, is an incomprehensible jumble. How it could be made to cohere in performance is beyond me. Bits are brilliant, even hilarious, but others are simply inexplicably profane or forced absurdity, and too often we're bouncing back and forth between these. If there's a thread holding it together, I haven't found it.

[Brendon.goodmurphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shipment is a provocative play that forces the audience to face their uncomfortable assumptions, biases and stereotypes about race. It is strange, funny, and very experimental, and so effective in bringing liveness to the theatre in what I could only imagine would be electrifying to see performed.

[francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I read Lear)

“There was no snow.” “There can be snow if I say so.”

May more dissertations turn into absurdist plays 🙏 King Lear and the Sesame Street episode about death fit together like nothing else. I really enjoyed the different styles employed for each monologue.

[efin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have such a complicated relationship with this play. Half the people who read it don’t make it halfway through, but the ending makes up for everything, it’s use of sesame street is nostalgic in a way I can’t quite put into words.

[ems · Rating 2 out of 5]

some Statements shaped like plays

[Not Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Play.

Wild and meta. Pretty great.

[H H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incisive, biting, and provoking, Lee's play is an hilarious exploration of race and media and how representation informs our experience of racial identity.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

PSA: Recordings of her plays are on her website. You can WATCH FOR FREE!

I agree with other reviewers that experimental plays are best performed not read, so I’m excited to watch them.

[Anika]

Only read Lear

[Emily Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read these two plays on the plane going and returning from thanksgiving break. Real eating: 4.5/5

These are surely something else. I LOOOOOVED the Sesame Street part.

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved The Shipment

[C Patt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure the fourth wall breaks worked for me but at least Lear had some good monologues and two person scenes

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and hysterical, with an absolute gut punch of an ending.

Wow.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Shipment ruled, Lear was a little hard to follow. I didn't like this collection as much as Songs, but The Shipment was great. My favorite part--and I've been using this bit to explain the pervasive racism in society to others--is the "Even Stevens" part. "Where one guys has THIIIIIIIIS much and the other guys has this tiny much, then you get a cookie and you split it RIIIIIIIIGHT down the middle." I also liked the absurdist go-no-where dialogues. Things that almost reach a point, but then just fall short. I like it. It's not very good, but I like it.

[Tom Romig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Jean Lee's The Shipment blasts the stereotypes that make race relations in America so problematic. She says she writes of things that make her uncomfortable, in turn making audiences uncomfortable, with the result that we question our attitudes and assumptions. It's a disconcerting but bracing experience. (I just saw a well acted performance of the play at the Forum Theatre in Silver Spring, MD.)

[Caitlin Conlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note that I only read The Shipment, as I read this for my Comparative Ethnic Literature class & the first play was the only one provided to us.

3.5 stars. I could really, really appreciate what the playwright was trying to do here. I would love to see this play in action, to really get the full effect of the stereotypes versus the comedian versus the "real" characters. A very interesting concept, one that I've never seen explored before.

[Rowena · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. sooo gooddd/hilarious. the stand up in the beginning was a little overly patronizing, i felt. but it was a really great performance overall, esp the sitcom part! would have loved to have seen this live.

[Sam Doolittle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kk so this time around I was reading “Lear.” I’d give it a 2.5; it had its moments but is mostly a disappointment for me. BUT I’m keeping the overall rating a 5 because “The Shipment” is fucking BRILLIANT and has been since 2009 and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two very strong, thoughtful plays.

[Tj Ciesla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lear is one of the most emotionally powerful plays I've ever read. But they're both a lot more difficult to read than too watch.

[Ian Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really sure what was going on here.

I liked the bit though where the guy says he eats a bunch of candy and milk before bed and doesn't brush his teeth.

I want to do that.