★★★★★… Hype Man is theater at its urgent, vital best. See it and see it again.
DigBoston
Company One’s [Hype Man], presented by the A.R.T., is freshly urgent, considering the past year’s debates around policing and the appropriation of historically Black art forms.
The New York Times
Purchase a household ticket to stream Hype Man on demand anytime through May 6 at 11:59PM ET. ASL-interpertation and audio description are also available on demand.
Called “Sharply directed, incredibly well-acted, and absolutely of-the-moment” by WGBH’s Executive Arts Editor Jared Bowen, Company One’s Hype Man: a break beat play asks: who has the responsibility to speak up in the face of social injustice? This newly reimagined version of the Elliot Norton Award-winning play by poet and playwright Idris Goodwin (How We Got On) follows a rapper, a beat-maker, and a hype man on the verge of making it big when the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager shakes the interracial hip-hop trio to the core and forces them to navigate issues of friendship, race, and protest.
Hype Man: a break beat play was developed by Goodwin with Company One Theatre.
Virtual Premiere Celebration
Join us on April 8 at 7PM ET to celebrate the virtual premiere of Hype Man! Interact with fellow audience members and the creative team, and hear from A.R.T. and C1 staff about our longstanding partnership. Patrons with tickets to any performance are welcome to join. Invitation to RSVP issued following purchase.
Cast Meet-and-Greet
Kadahj Bennett, Rachel Cognata, and Michael Knowlton will join audiences on April 11 at 5:30PM ET for a post-show conversation following the matinee of Hype Man. Patrons with tickets to any performance are welcome to join. Invitation to RSVP issued following purchase.
Post-Show Conversation with Lisa Simmons and John Oluwole ADEkoje
On April 15 at 9PM ET, following the evening performance, Roxbury International Film Festival Director Lisa Simmons and Co-Film Director/
Closing Night Watch Party
Tune in for a closing night watch party of Hype Man. Experience this “absolutely-of-the-moment show” with friends, family, and community. Starts at 7:30PM ET sharp!
Written by Idris Goodwin
Original Stage Production Directed by Shawn LaCount
Director of Photography John Oluwole ADEkoje
Cinematography by John Oluwole ADEkoje and The Loop Lab
Film Directed by John Oluwole ADEkoje and Shawn LaCount
Notable dates
Virtual Premiere Celebration: 4/8 at 7PM ET
Cast Meet-and-Greet: 4/11 at 5:30PM ET
Post-Show Conversation: 4/15 at 9PM ET
Closing Night Watch Party: 5/6 at 7:30PM ET
On Demand Thru: 5/6
ASL-Interpreted On Demand Thru: 5/6
Audio Described On Demand Thru: 5/6
Closed Captions: Available at all performances
Press Coverage
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Credits
Cast
Verb
Kadahj Bennett
Verb
Kadahj Bennett
A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Watertown Historical Moving Plays: The Charles W. Lenox Experience, New Rep; Pass Over, SpeakEasy Stage; Dream Boston, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Huntington Theatre Company; This Place Displaced, Artists’ Theater of Boston; Hype Man, Peerless, The T Party, An Octoroon, Dry Land, How We Got On, Company One; Akeelah and the Bee, Wheelock Family Theatre. Web Series: The Halls, Beyond Measure Productions. Music: Music Director: Company One, Front Porch Arts Collective; Dancelujah (Writer/
Peep One
Rachel Cognata
Peep One
Rachel Cognata
A.R.T.: Gloria: A Life; Hype Man: a break beat play, Greater Good, Company One Theatre. Regional: Really, Hype Man (Elliot Norton Award), Company One Theatre; Cardboard Piano, New Repertory Theatre; The Book Club Play, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Pinnacle
Michael Knowlton
Pinnacle
Michael Knowlton
A.R.T.: Debut. Regional: Hype Man, Company One, Mixed Blood; Splendor, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (dir. Shawn LaCount); Come Back Little Sheba (IRNE Award nominee, Best Supporting Actor), Our Town (dir. David Cromer), Huntington Theatre Company; Distant Neighbors, Fresh Ink; Coriolanus, Commonwealth Shakespeare; References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater; The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Wax Wings. Film: Anything It Takes (Billy), 8 Productions. Michael was a regular cast member of Boston’s Shear Madness from 2015 until its closing in 2020.
Actors’ Equity Association member
Stage Manager
Cesara Walters
Stage Manager
Cesara Walters
A.R.T.: Hype Man; Cirque of the Dead, Boston Circus Guild/OBERON. Regional/Fringe: Hype Man (Elliot Norton Award), REVOLT. She Said. Revolt Again., The T Party, Company One Theatre; Parade (Elliot Norton Award), Moonbox Productions. Educational: Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare Now!. International: Amour!, Royal Academy of Music. Opera: La clemenza di Tito (Director), Promenade Opera Project. Film: Dialogues of the Carmelites (First Assistant Director), New England Conservatory. Education: BA (Honors), Stage Management, Rose Bruford College.