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Acclaim for Dael Orlandersmith’s

Yellowman

“By turns prophetic and affirmative, Yellowman is a battle cry for humanity and its possibilities…. The playwright’s sense of cosmic sweep leads inexorably to an agonizingly contemporary view of fate and tragedy.”

—The New York Times

“A beautiful coming-of-age tale…. Both a celebration of young love and a harrowing study of smoldering domestic violence, the play is both heartwarming and ultimately heartbreaking…. Orlandersmith is clearly in love with words. Her picturesque reminiscences describe visions of both rural South Carolina and the big city. The play has a flowing, cinematic texture.”

—Daily Variety Gotham

“Maybe Dael Orlandersmith’s plays will continue to improve exponentially. While The Gimmick was impressive, Yellowman may very well be twice as good.”

—The Star-Ledger

About the Author

Dael Orlandersmith

Yellowman

My Red Hand, My Black Hand

Dael Orlandersmith presented her first play, Liar, Liar, in New York in 1994, and since then has written several others, including Beauty’s Daughter, which appeared at the American Place Theatre and won an Obie Award in 1995; Monster, which was presented to critical acclaim at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1996; and The Gimmick, which she performed at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1999. She won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and was a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Drama for Yellowman and is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights.

ALSO BY DAEL ORLANDERSMITH

Beauty’s Daughter, Monster, The Gimmick

Title Page

Dedication

To Blanka Zizka, Howard W. Overshown,
Paul Douglas Michnewiecz, Janice Paran, Emily Mann,
Robert Blacker, and the rest of the Sundance Theatre Lab,
my aunt Marion Thomas–and to the adults
who’ve forgotten–the Dream!

Part 1 - Yellowman

Yellowman

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Yellowman was originally commissioned and developed by McCarter Theatre and produced by McCarter Theatre, Wilma Theater, and Long Wharf Theatre. It was developed in part with the support of the Sundance Theatre Laboratory.

It was first produced by McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey, on January 10, 2002, with the following cast:

ALMA Dael Orlandersmith
EUGENE Howard W. Overshown

Director Blanka Zizka
Set designer Klara Zieglerova
Costume designer Janus Stefanowicz
Lighting designer Russell H. Champa
Composer Elliott Sharp
Dialect coach Charlotte Fleck
Dramaturg Janice Paran
Resident producer Mara Isaacs
Production stage manager Paul-Douglas Michnewicz

It was originally produced in New York City by the Manhattan Theatre Club.

CHARACTER NOTES

ALMA: Large-sized but in proportion, medium-brown complexion, strong-featured. Age range can be from 38 to 43.

EUGENE: Tall, lithe-bodied, almost feminine-featured. Extremely light-skinned man, age range 40 to 48.