Shay Mace
Described as a play disguised as a magic show where history and illusion intertwine, upcoming Edinburgh Festival Fringe show Blackbox explores the life of Henry ‘Box Brown’, an enslaved man in Virginia, and his daring 1849 escape where he shipped himself to freedom in Philadelphia. Blended with gospel-infused soundscapes and stagecraft, playwright Rickerby Hinds’ script aims to transform the theatre into a site ‘of both sanctuary and reckoning’. We caught up with Rickerby for a pixelated pint to find out what inspired the show.
You can catch Blackbox at Belly Button at Underbelly, Cowgate on August 5th – 30th (not the 17th) from 12:40 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi Rickerby, tell us about Henry “Box” Brown and why you‘ve decided to bring his story to the stage now?
Rickerby: Henry “Box” Brown was an enslaved man who literally shipped himself to freedom from Richmond, Virginia, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a wooden box. After watching his wife and three children be sold away despite his efforts to keep his family together, Brown decided he could no longer endure enslavement. He would either free himself or die trying.
Like many people, I had always heard the phrase “Henry Box Brown—the man who shipped himself to freedom in a box,” but that was the extent of my knowledge. That changed when I was commissioned by Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., to create a work exploring Black history. As I began researching Brown’s life, particularly through Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, I discovered a story that was not only inspiring but inherently theatrical.
Why bring Blackbox to the stage now? Because we are living through a moment when the stories we choose to remember—and the stories we choose to forget—matter enormously. Henry Box Brown’s story reminds us that freedom has never been an abstract idea; it has always required courage, imagination, and sacrifice. His story is a vital part of American history, and without Black history, there is no complete understanding of America itself.
Shay: How has the creative process been of putting the show together? Give us an idea of the journey you’ve been on with it so far.
Rickerby: Blackbox is “An Epic Poem with Magic,” and it began with the story itself. Once I read Henry Box Brown’s narrative, it became obvious how the story had to be told. The historical event itself is an act of theatrical impossibility. An enslaved man climbs into a wooden box in Richmond and emerges free in Philadelphia. That isn’t merely history—it’s stage magic embedded within history.
Once I discovered that theatrical vocabulary, the play began to reveal itself. In addition to magic, I knew music—in this case Gospel music—would play a vital role in the piece, just as music has played a vital role in the survival of Black people in America, from spirituals and gospel to blues, R&B, and hip-hop.
Structurally, Blackbox came to me as a brilliantly constructed sermon in the tradition of the Black church—part testimony, part ritual, part celebration, and part call to action.
Shay: What will be the first thing the audience sees, feels, and hears as they enter the space?
Rickerby: When audiences enter Blackbox, they will encounter a landscape of boxes—some ordinary, some mysterious, all carrying the possibility of transformation, including the box that carried Henry Brown to freedom. They will hear the sustained chords of a Hammond organ providing the prelude to the sermon, the magic show, and the epic poem they are about to experience.
Shay: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Rickerby: Every audience brings something different to a performance, but I hope people leave with a deeper understanding of the human desire for freedom and the extraordinary lengths people will go to secure it. I hope they reflect on the arrogance required for one human being to claim ownership over another, while also recognizing the resilience, ingenuity, and survival instinct that connect us across generations and cultures.
Shay: What journey has the show been on to find itself at EdFringe 2026?
Rickerby: Blackbox’s journey began nearly 180 years ago in 1849 when Henry Brown decided he had endured enough and climbed into a wooden box that could just as easily have become his casket but instead became his freedom-box. The story was simply waiting for me to find it.
The practical journey began at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., where one of the most significant events in American history took place: the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. The project began with Ford’s Theater commissioning the play and presenting a staged reading in the very theatre where that history unfolded. From there, Blackbox received its first full production at the University of California, Riverside, featuring the same cast that will appear at Edinburgh Fringe: Jada Evelyn Ramsey and Josiah Alpher, who were also featured in Dreamscape during its successful Fringe run last year.
Now, after a journey that has taken us from Richmond to Washington, D.C., to Riverside, California, we have somehow arrived—almost magically—at Edinburgh.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Rickerby: I’m excited to introduce international audiences to Henry Box Brown’s extraordinary story. One of the great gifts of Edinburgh is that people from all over the world gather in one place. While Brown’s story is rooted in American history, its themes—freedom, survival, resilience, and self-determination—are universal. I’m looking forward to seeing how audiences from different countries and cultures connect with his journey.
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Rickerby: If Blackbox were a beverage, it would be coconut water drunk directly from the shell. From the outside, it appears simple—even ordinary—but inside is something life-sustaining…and delicious. You have to break through a hard exterior to reach what’s essential, and once you do, you discover something nourishing. In many ways, that’s Henry Box Brown’s story.
A reminder, you can catch Blackbox at Belly Button at Underbelly, Cowgate on August 5th – 30th (not the 17th) from 12:40 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Jason Sullivan
