Dael Orlandersmith’s award-winning piece examining Ferguson, Missouri in the wake of Michael Brown’s death airs nationwide November 15
ST. LOUIS – After the
death of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis commissioned acclaimed writer and performance artist Dael Orlandersmith to create a piece focused on the aftermath and a nation’s struggle for justice and freedom.
Until the Flood’s
2016 world premiere at The Rep received critical acclaim, was named Outstanding New Play by the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards and has been produced around the country and in Ireland, Scotland and England.
The Rep, in collaboration with ALL ARTS and other theatres across the nation, will premier
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater’s
2018 production online on Sunday, November 15 at 7 p.m. CST on
the free ALL ARTS app and allarts.org,
a broadcast and digital platform dedicated to the arts. This production features the same playwright/actor, director and design team that originated the piece at The Rep in 2016.
“The Rep is proud to support artists who examine our past, point us towards our future and bring us to a new understanding through art,” said
The Rep’s Augustin Family Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif. “Dael’s
work helps us examine a moment that forever changed our region.”
Based on extensive interviews following the August 2014 shooting of Black teen Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson, this tour-de-force
one-woman show, directed for the stage and television by Neel Keller, gives voice to a community haunted by injustice and a country yearning for change. Brown’s death ignited weeks of social unrest, propelled the activist movement known as Black Lives Matter
and prompted an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Orlandersmith traveled to the St. Louis region a few months after the shooting to conduct interviews with dozens of people. From these intimate
conversations, she created eight unforgettable characters who embody a community struggling to come to terms with the personal damage caused by these complex events. Experienced in performance, these voices offer haunting reminders of America’s continuing
struggle with racism and justice.
Awarded a “Critic’s Pick” by the New York Times and acclaimed by critics and audiences across the country,
Until the Flood is
an unmissable drama that the Chicago Tribune raved, “achieves a great beauty by bringing us together rather than driving us apart.”
Joining Rattlestick in sponsoring the broadcast premiere are The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, which originally commissioned the piece, A Contemporary
Theatre in Seattle, Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Portland Center Stage.
Following the November 15, 2020, broadcast premiere,
Until the Flood will
be available for on-demand viewing on ALL ARTS until
the Fall of 2023.
For more information, visit repstl.org or call The Rep Box Office at 314-968-4925.
Lynn (Zipfel) Venhaus has had a continuous byline in St. Louis metro region publications since 1978. She writes features and news for Belleville News-Democrat and contributes to St. Louis magazine and other publications.
She is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, currently reviews films for Webster-Kirkwood Times and KTRS Radio, covers entertainment for PopLifeSTL.com and co-hosts podcast PopLifeSTL.com…Presents.
She is a member of Critics Choice Association, where she serves on the women’s and marketing committees; Alliance of Women Film Journalists; and on the board of the St. Louis Film Critics Association. She is a founding and board member of the St. Louis Theater Circle.
She is retired from teaching journalism/media as an adjunct college instructor.