Dael Orlandersmith doesn’t mess around. She’s firmly connected to her New York City roots, and much like another famous New Yorker, Howard Cosell, Dael has no problem “telling it like it is.”

Now through March 20, 2016 — you’ll find the powerful playwright making Forever memories in the Ellen Bye Studio at Portland Center Stage. Her one-woman show is in rotation with a one-man PCS Production (Each and Every Thing). A full schedule is here.

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Photo by Patrick Weishampel. Blankeye.tv.

Forever begins in Paris at the famed Père Lachaise Cemetery, where strangers from around the world make pilgrimages to the graves of legendary artists such as Marcel Proust, Richard Wright and Jim Morrison. As she visits the resting places of her idols, Orlandersmith is moved to investigate the complex legacy she received from her mother and their often harrowing life together.

Riveting and powerful, Forever is about family – the ones we are born into; the strange way powerful bonds are formed with people who, though unrelated by blood, come to feel like family; and the legacies that shape us all.

Late last week, we sat down and talked with Dael Orlandersmith.

Below is a video, which features performance excerpts, and our unedited audio conversation.

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Photo by Patrick Weishampel. Blankeye.tv.

Next week, our interview with Dan Hoyle, creator of Each and Every Thing.

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