photo by Paul Semrad

box

By Jarrett King
A Dallas Premiere

Directed by Jiles R. King II

with
Rhonda Boutté
Catherine D. DuBord
JuNene K
Bryan Pitts
Tommy Stuart
Lulu Ward
Steven Young

Preview Performances February 27 and 28, 2025
Opening Night Saturday, March 1, 2025
In Performance March 1 – 23, 2025

Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm
Sunday Matinees at 2:00 pm
(No performance Thursday March 20, 2025)

Box runs approximately two hours, ten minutes with one fifteen minute intermission

Part magic show, part historical speculation, part romantic drama—this play explores the harrowing story of Henry Box Brown, the abolitionist lecturer and early magician who escaped slavery by mailing himself to freedom and went on to become a famed magician on the London stage. Using actual magic, this world premiere imagines an unwritten chapter in the story of one of history’s most overlooked folk heroes.


 

Jarrett King

Jarrett King (he/him) is a playwright and educator based in Chicago, Illinois. His play A War of the Worlds—an afrofuturist reimagining of the War of the Worlds radio broadcast—was the inaugural production in Penfold Theatre Company’s new play commission series and received 12 B. Iden Payne Award nominations, including Best Original Script. Other works include The Possible, Box, and St. Miles, which was developed while a playwright-in-residence at the Goodman Theatre. He is a recipient of Definition Theatre’s Amplify New Play Commission, where his play Frog Splash is currently in development, and is the 2023 recipient of Undermain Theatre’s Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work. He is a two-time second rounder at the Austin Film Festival for his sitcom pilot Fluff and his web series Zaltana. As an educator, he has worked in various capacities at renowned arts institutions, including Steppenwolf, Silk Road Rising, and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and as an Adjunct Professor at Loyola University. He is the Director of Education at Court Theatre (2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award) and serves on the Board of Directors of the Beverly Arts Center. iamjarrettking.com | @MrJarrettKing

Costume Design Ava Roberts-Kamaria

Sound Design Devin Bruton

Lighting Design Steve Woods

Scenic & Properties Design Phillip Schroeder

Magic Consultant John M. Wilson

Stage Manager Julissa Hernandez

Assistant Stage Manager Joseph Martinez