Dael Orlandersmith Forever Analysis

Dael Orlandersmith's "Forever" provided a riveting experience where Ms. Orlandersmith herself weaves an intricate tale of her life story through a minimalist effort using just herself to lay out the scene. She began the deep connection with the audience at the beginning by coming onstage and speaking directly to the audience about typical theatre etiquette such as cell phones and then plunging into her story without a beat of hesitation, thus pulling in and engaging the audience immediately. Ms. Orlandersmith's stories were so intense and palpable that it was important to have a deep connection with the audience from the first beat. There were times where she would pause and it was if her words were lingering in the air touching each person individually. Her use of background music a couple times where she continued telling the story underneath it made it feel like an actual movie flashback where the moment surrounds you and the story …show more content…
Even though personally I have never gone through the same caliber of things that she has her stories touched me to the point of tears. The part I loved the most was her part, and the title, where she talked about her forever and how her family became the people she connected with and chose and not necessarily her upbringing or the ones she was related to blood. I happen to love my biological family and we get along well, but her concept of forever and death and choosing family is so universal. This concept is everywhere, from friends calling themselves family or even adopted kids being adopted into a new family, family is so much more than who you came from. Family, I believe and what I gathered from her, is anyone who you connect to at a deeper level, people who care. I love that she claimed the lost musicians at the cemetery her family, the ones she wanted to connect and share with, because they got along and connected at a deeper level, and that kind of connection truly is