Until the Flood

European premiere | Arcola Theatre By Dael Orlandersmith

5 Stars

Searing and immaculate ... superbly performed.

The Scotsman
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5 Stars

Searing and immaculate ... superbly performed.

The Scotsman

About

Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith (Yellowman, Young Vic) arrives in Europe to perform her urgent and revelatory play.

Missouri, 2014. Michael Brown, a black teenager, is shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer.

A tidal wave of unrest sweeps across the nation, powered by a new activist movement called Black Lives Matter. Its ripples are felt all over the world.

In this gripping drama, based on real-life interviews from the aftermath of the shooting, Dael Orlandersmith journeys into the heart and soul of modern-day America.

Confronting the powerful forces of history, race and politics, she embodies the many faces of a community rallying for justice, and a country still yearning for change.

Winner: 2019 Scotsman Fringe First award

Image: Alex Brenner


★★★★★ The Scotsman
★★★★★ The List
★★★★★ Miro Magazine
★★★★★ British Theatre Guide
★★★★ BritishTheatre.com
★★★★ Guardian
★★★★ Time Out
★★★★ Evening Standard
★★★★ The Skinny
★★★★ Daily Telegraph
★★★★ The Wee Review
★★★★ What's On Stage
★★★★ Fest Magazine
★★★★ Everything Theatre

Blog: Michael Brown shooting timeline of events

  • 5 Stars

    Searing and immaculate ... superbly performed.

  • 5 Stars

    A masterful performance, with words of savagery spat out like bullets… a bold, moving and timely tribute.

  • 5 Stars

    Earnest, honest, simple and powerful words.

  • 5 Stars

    Dael Orlandersmith gives a riveting performance.

  • 4 Stars

    Relatable and current… confronts the powerful forces of history, race and politics.

  • 4 Stars

    Features a commanding performance from Orlandersmith.

  • 4 Stars

    Dael Orlandersmith is terrific... a commanding, amazing grace.

  • 4 Stars

    Fluid and flowing, each monologue feels as if it is unravelling, unrushed.

  • 4 Stars

    Beautifully measured solo tour de force.

  • 4 Stars

    Quietly devastating

  • 4 Stars

    Orlandersmith allows her characters to be more than their politics or prejudices

  • 4 Stars

    Never less than absorbing – and frequently illuminating

  • 4 Stars

    I was held throughout the whole performance.

  • 4 Stars

    Written and performed with sorrow, anger, humour and, principally, compassion, it is a deeply moving response to an agonisingly significant chapter in the history of race in America.

  • 4 Stars

    Truth-telling about a touch-paper subject, a theatrical journalist telling it like it is.

  • 4 Stars

    Confiding, ruminating, direct

  • 4 Stars

    A haunting meditation on community in all its messy and at times curmudgeonly ways

  • Orlandersmith's own, searing wake-up call.

Credits

  • Writer & PerformerDael Orlandersmith
  • DirectorNeel Keller
  • Scenic DesignerTak Kata
  • Composer/Sound DesignerJustin Ellington
  • Lighting DesignerMary Louise Geiger
  • Costume DesignerKaye Voyce
  • Video DesignerNicholas Hussong

    Behind the Scenes

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