TitleDutchman (Iowa Director's Festival)
PlaywrightAmiri Baraka
DirectorJosh Turner
Stage ManagerSophie Young
CategoryMainstage, Thayer Theatre
First RehearsalDecember 2
Load In/Tech /DressJanuary 29-Febrary 5
PerformancesFebruary 6-8 & 13-15
Roles to be castAge (Presentation)Gender/Race (Presentation)Description
Clay20s-30sBlack MaleA black man on the subway
LulaOpenWhite FemaleA white woman who fixates on Clay
DrunkOpenMaleA drunk passenger on the subway 
Well dressed manOpenWhite MaleA well-dressed man on the subway
Young Black ManYounger or same age as ClayBlack MaleA young black man who begins his journey at the end of the play
SynopsisTraveling on the city subway, everything seems innocent in the conversation between Clay and Lula, but things quickly escalate. Dutchman, by Amiri Baraka, a highly influential and provocative storyteller of the Black experience, examines the damage to and silence of the Black community — a cycle we seem doomed to repeat.
Notices

This show will return early from winter break for rehearsals beginning on Tuesday, January 14. 

Content Advisory: The show has sexual dialogue and racially charged language and violence.

Fight Breakdown

PageStage Directions/ Planned ActionCharacter(s)
11

[Taking him a little roughly by the wrist, so he cannot eat the apple, then shaking the wrist] 

[Shakes his wrist harder]

Lula, Clay
28[Slaps him on the shoulder, begins finding things in her bag, taking them out and throwing them over her shoulder into the aisle]Lula, Clay
30[As she sings she rises from her seat...which she continues up and down the aisle, bumping into many of the standing people and tripping over the feet of those sitting]Lula
32-33

[Lula us dancing and turning, still shouting as loud as she can. The drunk too is shouting and waving his hands wildly]

[He rushes half stumbling from his seat, and grabs one of her flailing arms.]

[She struggles against him]

[Clay is dragging her towards her seat, and the drunk seeks to interfere. He grabs Clay around the shoulders and begins wrestling with him. Clay clubs the drunk to the floor without releasing Lula, who is still screaming. Clay finally gets her to the seat and throws her into it]

[Grabbing her shoulders]

[Clay slaps her as hard as he can, across the mouth. Lula’s head bangs against the back of the seat. When she raises it again, Clay slaps her again] 

Lula, Clay, The Drunk
37

[Bending across the girl to retrieve his belongings...As he is bending over her, the girl brings up a small knife and plunges it into Clay’s chest. Twice. He slumps across her knees, his mouth working stupidly]

[The others come and drag Clay’s body down the aisle] 

[They throw him off] 

Lula, Clay, The Others

 

Intimacy Breakdown

PageStage Directions/ Planned ActionCharacter(s)
10-11


[Putting 
her 
hand 
on 
CLAY'S 
closest 
knee, 
drawing
 it 
from
 the 
knee 
up 
to 
the 
thigh's
 hinge, 
then 
removing
 it, 
watching 
his 
face 
very 
closely, 
and 
continuing 
to 
laugh, 
perhaps 
more 
gently 
than 
before] 

[She returns her hand, without moving it, then takes it away and plunges it in her bag to draw out an apple]

Lula, Clay
17[Grabs his thigh, up near the crotch]Lula, Clay
23[Kissing her neck and fingers]Lula, Clay
Important Dates/Holidays12/1 Advent Begins, 1/14 Mahayana New Year, 1/14 New Year (Orthodox), 1/14 Tamil Thai Pongal Day, 1/14 Makar Sankranti, 1/18 Bodhi Day, 1/20 Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Observed), 1/21 Spring Classes Begin, 1/27 Lailat al Miraj*, 1/29 Seol-nal, 1/29 Chinese New Year (Year of the Snake), 1/29 Tet Nguyen Dan, 1/29 Tsagaan Sar, 2/2 Groundhog Day, 2/9 Superbowl, 2/11 Thaipusam, 2/12 Magha Puja Day, 2/14 St. Valentine's Day, 2/14 Lailat al Bara*, 2/15 Nirvana Day

Dutchman Callbacks

Dutchman Cast List

Please know we return from Winter break a week early for rehearsals (Jan. 14th-18th).

Dutchman Calendar p1
Dutchman Calendar p2

Questions or concerns?

Sophie Young, Stage Manager: sophia-g-young@uiowa.edu

Sammi Lewis, Assistant Stage Manager: samara-lewis@uiowa.edu