Dael Orlandersmith Selected Works

Told through music, movement and lyrical storytelling, New Age follows four women at different junctures in life as they contend with their sexuality, insecurities and legacies. Cass loves art and continues to redefine herself after divorce, Lisette recounts how she became a writer as she faces health challenges, Candy has carved out a life for herself and despite struggles remains upbeat, and Liberty, the youngest of the group, begins her career as a rock musician. Edgy, joyful and authentic, Dael Orlandersmith’s distinctive style brings the stories of these resilient women to life as they prove that they are defined by much more than age.

A poetic journey of a dancer, artist, and father questioning the balance of his passions — art, culture, family. A story that, questions and challenges the legacy of stereotypes: of manhood, race, fatherhood. This solo/movement drama explores the sins of our fathers and mothers — as well as the gifts that our parents bestow upon us.

After the death of her husband, a Danish American woman finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. A journey through the couple’s time together—from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen, to the home they shared in present-day Chicago—Lady in Denmark is a passionate reflection on life and love.

Created in response to the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Dael Orlandersmith’s one-person play is a complex inquiry into the wide-ranging repercussions of Brown’s death. Orlandersmith conducted extensive interviews with residents of Ferguson and St. Louis in order to give voice to a chorus of characters from the community whose differing perspectives offer a complicated understanding of what happened and why. A stark examination of the way racism manifests in present-day America.

One woman's journey with many obstacles stacked against her. The heroine or "anti-heroine" can choose to be a victim of the violent cards life has dealt her or she can use her poetry and music as a creative means to deal. The audience sees the character's inability and ultimate ability to deal with other people and triumph in the end.

A violent family history passes from one generation to the next. The narrator, a young woman, uses stories, poetry and characters to introduce and juxtapose situations. Through her powerful eyes we witness violence, friendship, alienation, family love and loyalty.

The Gimmick tells the story of Alexis and Jimmy, a pair of outsiders who forge a friendship through their shared passion for art. Theirs is a love more powerful than the ghetto gimmicks that devastate much of the Harlem of their youth. When one falls, the bond that has kept them whole threatens to destroy them both.

In Yellowman, a finalist for the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Alma and Eugene have known each other since they were young children. As their friendship blossoms into love, Alma struggles to free herself from her mother's poverty and alcoholism, while Eugene must contend with the legacy of being "yellow"—lighter-skinned than his brutal and unforgiving father.

In My Red Hand, My Black Hand, a young woman explores her heritage as the child of a blues-loving Native American man and a black sharecropper's daughter from Virginia. Alternately joyous and harrowing, the play is a powerful examination of the racial tensions that fracture communities and individual lives.

In her explosive solo piece Stoop Stories, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith transforms with mesmerizing ease into an astounding range of characters, from an elderly Polish Holocaust survivor to a poetic young junkie to a teenage Puerto Rican punk to a washed-up rock 'n' roll star. In this electrifying journey through the streets of Harlem, Orlandersmith performs a powerful, sizzling, fierce symphony of the diverse voices that make up her neighborhood.