Young Jean Lee: The Shipment, Barbican

As a true highlight of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT), The Shipment has truly global credentials. Written by acclaimed Korean-American playwright Young Jean Lee, the play is a bold and uncomfortable exploration of African-American identity politics.

Whilst it would seem that Lee can only approach this subject from an ‘outsider’ position, The Shipment was developed in close collaboration with its all-black cast, thereby offering both internal and an external perspectives on its racial politics. Lee also deploys razor-sharp comedy in her dissection of clichéd cultural images of black America, making use of the cartoonish comedy with which she has previously skewered Christian and Asian-American foibles. Lee certainly loves a challenge.

This new piece is surreal and eclectic in the way that it challenges racial stereotypes and prejudices, mashing up a range of different genres and styles. The show includes everything from a song and dance number to a naturalistic cocktail party comedy, peppered with skits, stand-up sequences and countless cultural caricatures. The variety alludes to the tradition of the minstrel show but, like Kander and Ebb’s acclaimed musical The Scottsboro Boys , it turns this genre on its head.

The Shipment premiered in New York to rave reviews and its selection as part of the 2014 LIFT programme is also a reliable stamp of its quality. Other performances to watch out for in the   LIFT line-up  include  new offerings from   Belarus Free Theatre   and Germany’s   She She Pop , as well as the opportunity to sit on the main stage of the   Barbican   in   Dmitry Krymov ’s   Opus No.7 .