Review - Until the Flood

Whenever I start to think of what I want to say about Dael Orlandersmith's Until the Flood, I start to cry.  The experience of seeing the show was that moving to me, and even more moving the farther out I get from it.  I guess that's as good a place as any to start, though I may have trouble finding words that are 'right' enough to describe it.

I've long been a fan of Orlandersmith's - her writing, her acting, her activism.  She's also a delightful human being, which is an added bonus to her talent.  The last piece of hers that I saw, Forever, was a wonderful evening out (you can remind yourself of my thoughts on that play HERE).  When I received the ticket offer for this new show at Rattlestick, I immediately emailed my handsome friend with whom I saw Forever and we found a mutually beneficial night to head downtown.  Unfortunately, he got stuck out of town last night and didn't make it back in time to see Until the Flood with me, which made me sad.  Doubly sad, really - sad that I didn't see him and sad that he didn't see this wonderfully moving play. 

photo credit: Sara Krulwich

Until the Flood is Orlandersmith's response to the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO.  Obviously, this is going to be a fraught topic, given the heated passion on both sides of the events there, and this amazing writer did not shy away from the pain on both sides.  After interviewing people in Ferguson - black and white, young and old - Orlandersmith fashioned her play as a series of monologues, meant to show people's responses to the tragedy, rather than point fingers or assign blame.  None of the characters were directly involved with the shootings, they're just all local people offering opinions, historical background and personal takes on what happened.  An interesting article about Orlandersmith's process is in an old issue of American Theatre magazine; if you're interested, you can read it HERE).

photo credit: Robert Altman

It's amazing how even-handed and empathetic Orlandersmith is portraying all of these characters - they're all so real and three-dimensional, I occasionally forgot the same woman was playing all of the roles.  Even the most racist, horrific example of white hate was presented without agenda.  If each character broke my heart in some way, the one who may stay with me the longest was the minister, who talks about going to the protests and offering to pray for people, both black and white, and who can somehow find the love in everything, because that's how she lives her life through her god.  I admit that the face of all that forgiveness nearly shamed me, because I have such rage at what has been done to people of color in this country.  The fact that Orlandersmith can present humanity in all its facets, without judging, is humbling to me.

photo credit: Robert Altman

Of course, now that I've written down that the minister may stay with me, I think about the young teen boy, who speaks tough and seems to have a death wish, then he tells a story about one of his teachers, ending it with wanting to go home with that teacher, wanting that teacher to be his father.  Just heartbreaking.  Or the other teen, who just wants out.  Who just wants to survive for one more year until he can get out.  Devastating.  Or the chill of actually seeing how hate can start in a child - horrifying to see but necessary to try to understand.

There is also humor and humanity in Until the Flood, it's not all heartbreak and tears.  But the profound empathy and deep exploration of the human condition makes this show incredibly worthwhile and an excellent addition to the conversations that are happening all over this country, in the wake of all the hate that seems to be flooding our government and regular citizens.  If we could all be as good a listener and as good at expressing understanding as Dael Orlandersmith, we'd all be a lot better off.

Tangential notes around my evening: after the performance, there was a talkback.  I was very excited, thinking we would get to spend more time with Orlandersmith, but no, a staff member from 'community relations' came out to get our feelings about what we just saw, starting with our taking a collective deep breath.  Um.  I have to admit I was feeling a little cynical about that zen take on things, and I'm not sure it led to any substantive conversation, but I was enormously impressed with the staff member's ability to listen to the rants of the rather crazy woman in the front row and then to smoothly transition to another topic.  That took some skill.  

Oh, and before the show, I got the subway at Times Square.  I could hear some snippets of a Journey song - being a girl of the 80s, I admit to loving Steve Perry, so I tried to get closer to hear what was happening.  It was the song "Separate Ways" and it was being sung by a little kid, who couldn't have been more than ten years old, belting his lungs out like Steve Perry!  It was pretty cool.  Much cooler than the conversation between two millennial gals I overheard on the subway downtown: one of them actually said the words, "I don't know, it's that woman who Emma Stone played in some tennis movie."  Sigh.  Sometimes I weep for my younger generations, who don't know who came before them and made their lives a little easier by their fighting for what is right.  So thanks, Billie Jean King.  And thanks, Dael Orlandersmith, for listening to those who came before, during and after the events in Ferguson, and for trying to find a way past the struggle and a way into understanding and healing.  There's only a week left in the run of Until the Flood - please go see it and help keep the conversation going...