The PlayFinder™

BEAUTY'S DAUGHTER. 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.... Read more

In an arresting one-woman show, Dael Orlandersmith gives us five unforgettable male characters whose outward dissimilarities belie their inescapable link: a traumatic past plagued by a cycle of violence and abuse. Taking us from Coney Island to Manchester, England, and back, Ms. Orlandersmith brings to life a series of harrowing stories that weave together each character's friends, family, lovers and counselors into an explosive narrative that uncovers the darkest corners of hu... Read more

Inspired by her experiences in Paris at the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery—the final resting place of such legendary artists as Richard Wright and Jim Morrison—award-winning playwright/performer Dael Orlandersmith explores the strange way we form powerful bonds with people who, though unrelated to us by blood, come to feel like family. Observing strangers from around the world making pilgrimages to their favorite artist’s grave, Orlandersmith investigates the complex legacy she r... Read more

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.... Read more

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. (1 woman.)

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HORSEDREAMS explores the breakdown of the family unit as a result of addiction. After his wife, Desiree, dies of an accidental overdose, Loman faces the harsh reality of raising their son, Luka, alone.... Read more

MONSTER. 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.... Read more

MY RED HAND, MY BLACK HAND. This play tells the story of one girl's courageous search for belonging and acceptance in the two very distinct cultures that make up her heritage—African-American and Native-American. The play unfolds as the girl describes the past, present and future of her parents' cultures and their fusion into her own. She tells us about the "Red" Tlingit and Lakota parentage of her father, who leaves the reservation to play blues rock in Boston. And the "Black"... Read more

Dael Orlandersmith, combines theatre, poetry and music in a powerful, sizzling, fierce symphony of the diverse voices that make up her neighborhood—people drawn from both her life and her imagination. She introduces us to a range of characters—from an elderly Polish Holocaust survivor who has a chance meeting with Billie Holiday; to a poetic young junkie; to a teenage Puerto Rican punk; to a washed-up rock 'n' roll star; to a seventy-year-old New Yorker from Harlem heading to t... Read more

Pulitzer Prize-finalist Dael Orlandersmith’s UNTIL THE FLOOD was written in response to Michael Brown’s death. Having interviewed scores of St. Louis residents, Orlandersmith portrays the many faces found within the community, giving each a chance to take center stage.

Included in Broadway Book Club's Women's Voices Specialty Collection... Read more

YELLOWMAN is a multi-character memory play about an African-American woman who dreams of life beyond the confines of her smalltown Southern upbringing and the light-skinned man whose fate is tragically intertwined with hers. The play explores the negative associations surrounding male blackness as well as the effect these racial stereotypes have on black women.... Read more