Underground Railroad Game | 2016
“THE YEAR’S MOST RESOUNDING TESTAMENT TO THE THEATER’S CONTINUING POWER TO SHOCK.”
— BEN BRANTLEY, NEW YORK TIMES
ABOUT THE SHOW
Good morning, America! Welcome to Hanover Middle School, where a pair of teachers are getting down and dirty with today’s lesson. The nimble duo goes round after round on the mat of our nation’s history, tackling race, sex and power in this R-rated, kaleidoscopic and fearless comedy.
Underground Railroad Game made its Off-Broadway debut with Ars Nova in 2016 and ran to sold-out NYC audiences Sept. 13-Nov. 11th. Ars Nova toured that production around the world with a return engagement Off-Broadway at Ars Nova Greenwich House in 2019. Underground Railroad Game was shown in development at the New Orleans Fringe Festival, Roger Williams University, DEEP Space, and made its Philadelphia premiere with FringeArts in September, 2015.
ARS NOVA PRODUCTION OF UNDERGROUND RAILROAD GAME IS CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR TOURING WITH OCTOPUS THEATRICALS.
TOUR STOPS
Original Off Broadway Premiere – Ars Nova – 2016; Theater Der Welt, Hamburg, Germany – 2017; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI – 2018; ‘62 Center Williams College; Williamstown, MA – 2018; Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, Washington, DC – 2018; Curious Theatre Company, Denver Colorado – 2018; Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland – 2018; Soho Theatre, London, UK – 2018; Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, AU – 2019; Return Off-Broadway Engagement, Ars Nova – 2019; Bard College, Bard, NY – 2019
“This riveting, whip-smart performance piece... is as daringly unexpurgated as anything you’ll encounter onstage today.”
ACCOLADES AND PRESS
New York Times Top 25 play of the last 25 years
OBIE Award for Best American Theatre Work 2017
Edinburgh Fringe First Winner 2018
New York Times Best Theater of 2016
New York Times Critics’ Pick, “In-all-ways sensational”, “The smug and familiar humor with which this play hooks us winds up exploding in our faces, like a poisonous prank cigar.” -Ben Brantley
Time Out NY Best of 2016 and Critics’ Pick
Washington Post Best Theater of 2018, #2
Time Out Melbourne Best Theater of 2019, #1, “Ars Nova’s brilliant and brutal excoriation of race relations in America for Malthouse set the bar early in the year, and it proved too high to clear.”
Washington Post Review, “This riveting, whip-smart performance piece, created by Philadelphia actors Jennifer Kidwell and Scott Sheppard, is as daringly unexpurgated as anything you’ll encounter onstage today.” -Peter Marks, Washington Post
Philadelphia Inquirer Review, “brilliant theatrical commentary on contemporary race relations” - Toby Zinman
Other Accolades - 3 Lucille Lortel Nominations 2016, 2 Helen Hayes Nominations 2018, Edinburgh Stage Award 2018, Short-listed for Total Theater Award 2018
CREATIVE TEAM
Lead Artists: Scott R. Sheppard + Jenn Kidwell
Director: Taibi Magar
Co-Creators/Performers: Scott R. Sheppard + Jenn Kidwell
Stage Manager: Lisa McGinn
Assistant Stage Manager: Natalie Hratko
Production Design: Tilly Grimes
Set Design: Steven Dufala
Lighting Design: Oona Curley
Costume Design: Tilly Grimes
Sound Design: Mikaal Sulaiman
Props Design: Emilie Grossman
Movement Consultant: David Neumann
Fight Choreography: Ryan Bourque
Originally Developed in Collaboration with: Sarah Sanford
Photos by: Ben Arons
The creators thank the community of other artists in who have graciously given their time and talent to develop this piece since 2013.
“Explosive! Fearlessly, ferociously uninhibited… the show’s most subversive quality is also quintessentially American: it’s wildly entertaining.”