UNTIL THE FLOOD

PlayGuide (student study guide)

Variety called the work “eye-opening and quietly moving,” and Time Out London said, “It is a salve to see that beauty can arise from such tragedy.” Chicago Tribune: “Achieves a great beauty by bringing us together, rather than driving us apart.” 

Artistic Director Courtney Sale said, “Until the Flood, set in 2014, remains painfully relevant in 2021. Inspired by interviews, Dael animates an entire community with heart, intelligence, nuance, and poetry. Her work is the ultimate act of witnessing and we are honored to share that experience with our audiences.”

In 2014 the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown by a white police officer sparked weeks of protests and riots. In the aftermath, Dael Orlandersmith, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Yellowman and the writer/performer of the critically acclaimed plays Beauty’s Daughter and The Gimmick, interviewed a wide cross section of residents to create eight composite characters for Until the Flood. The docu-drama eschews politics and the specifics of the shooting to explore the hopes, fears, and struggles of the community.

Orlandersmith said, “I want to go beyond what’s right, who’s right, who’s wrong. How does this shooting affect people? In terms of race, how far have we come? Those are the questions that have come to mind. What does it invoke, provoke in you? I know this situation goes beyond the political. It extends itself into personal stories and the emotional and how we live on a day-to-day basis.”