Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea

by Nathan Alan Davis

Eighteen-year-old Dontrell Jones the Third decides that it is his duty and destiny to venture into the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage. But his family is not at all ready to abandon its prized son to the waters of a mysterious and haunting past. Blending poetry, humor, wordplay and ritual, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea is a present-day hero’s quest exploring the lengths and...

Eighteen-year-old Dontrell Jones the Third decides that it is his duty and destiny to venture into the Atlantic Ocean in search of an ancestor lost during the Middle Passage. But his family is not at all ready to abandon its prized son to the waters of a mysterious and haunting past. Blending poetry, humor, wordplay and ritual, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea is a present-day hero’s quest exploring the lengths and depths we must go to redeem history’s wrongs.

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Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea

Recommended by

  • Ally Varitek: Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis
    “

    With all of the gravity of a folktale and fueled by the old-soul energy of its protagonist, this play is easily one of my favorites and one I keep returning to . As Dontrell journeys to discover his role in his lineage, which poetically becomes a place both past, present, and future, the story connects us to those we come from and those we will become all at once.

    With all of the gravity of a folktale and fueled by the old-soul energy of its protagonist, this play is easily one of my favorites and one I keep returning to . As Dontrell journeys to discover his role in his lineage, which poetically becomes a place both past, present, and future, the story connects us to those we come from and those we will become all at once.

    ”
  • Danielle Mohlman: Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis
    “

    This play is so beautiful. It's full of poetry and life and joy and silliness and it's not enough to read it on the page. I want to see this big beautiful play staged over and over and over again.

    This play is so beautiful. It's full of poetry and life and joy and silliness and it's not enough to read it on the page. I want to see this big beautiful play staged over and over and over again.

    ”
  • Elisabeth Giffin Speckman: Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis
    “

    I got to read this play for callbacks at the Phoenix several years ago, and it is such a beautiful, haunting work of art. The poetic and visceral nature of the work is 100% engaging and entrancing. Produce this! See this! Read this!

    I got to read this play for callbacks at the Phoenix several years ago, and it is such a beautiful, haunting work of art. The poetic and visceral nature of the work is 100% engaging and entrancing. Produce this! See this! Read this!

    ”
View all 12 recommendations

Development History

Production History

  • Professional, Cleveland Public Theatre, 2015
  • University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
  • Professional, First Floor Theater, 2018
  • University, Bowie State University , 2017
  • University, Indiana University, 2013
  • Professional, Source Festival, 2014
  • Professional, Phoenix Theatre, 2015

Awards

  • Steinberg/ATCA New Play Citation
    2015