written by: Crystal-Angelee Burrell

The fact that Shipwreck: A History Play about 2017 has aged so dramatically is precisely why it’s worth listening to Anne Washburn’s reimagined podcast production. In a cabin built in 1776, a tense snowstorm and power-outage expose dangerous contradictions within a group of white liberal friends. The anachronistic action pivots to 2003 where America’s 43rd and 45th presidents wager the nation’s soul in a fantastical duel.

Back in the cabin, the friends predict Mitch McConnell stealing a Supreme Court justice and his senate blocking all principal witnesses from a botched impeachment trial. Rather than confront their own civic apathy, the group wallows in self-pity: a broken egg prevents homemade cookies, a gay couple is embarrassed to admit they’re one-percenters who evade taxes with their offshore account, and a phantom farmer regrets adopting his Black son from Kenya. Elsewhere in Shipwreck’s space-time continuum, James Comey meets with a president who demands his loyalty, and a friend in the cabin confesses to having voted for him in 2016.

As Americans waited with bated breath for election results that will define and transform a generation, Shipwreck begs an exhausting question: are white liberals inherently caricatural? The play’s most haunting language comes from a presumptive ally, a white woman who calls Black people imaginary and says “colonialism doesn’t eviscerate.” Anyone bemoaning these characters’ aversion to introspection has entirely missed the point; Anne Washburn places the burden of self-criticism on the audience so that Shipwreck’s final question is one of proximity: how close are we to the enemy, and do we have the fortitude it takes to reconcile?

Listen to all 4-parts now on The Public Theater.

Please note, The Public Theater is a sponsor of The Culture LP’s programs and content. By working together we employ Black artists from our community like freelance writer, Crystal-Angelee Burrell.