Playwright, poet, and performer Dael Orlandersmith is fascinated by the way people move through the world — both literally and figuratively. Her “Yellowman,” a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, explores the ways the lives of two Black friends are shaped according to judgments about their skin tone; “Until the Flood” chronicled the social uprising following the police shooting of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.; “The Gimmick” traces a friendship between two outsiders who bond over their mutual love of art. Her newest play, “Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance,” follows an individual searching for life’s meaning. Originally commissioned by Merrimack Repertory Theatre, the play was produced at the Contemporary American Theater Festival last year, the Rattlestick Theatre in New York City in February, and now comes to Lowell for performances May 8-26.
Using Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” as a source and inspiration, Orlandersmith introduces us to Virgil, who leads a relatively uneventful life until the death of a parent — a loss that makes Virgil realize how much has been taken for granted and how precious life is. Virgil is the guide of this journey, much as the Roman poet Virgil guided Dante into the Inferno. Simple moments of joy, hope, loss, and disappointment take on new meaning as Virgil navigates how one’s actions, or inactions, affect others.
“I think the pandemic, and the isolation it created, forced us to think about our mortality, especially since death and loss were all around us,” says Orlandersmith of her play, in which she performs all the parts. “But there are different kinds of death.”
Unhappy commuters on the subway remind her of the tortured souls Dante passed during his descent into the Inferno.
“You know that quote from Henry David Thoreau — ‘Most men lead lives of quiet desperation’? The pandemic made us look at how we are living. We should look back on our lives with gratitude, not desperation.”
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The example of the subway commuters resonates in other ways, she says. There’s something very intimate, she says, about the time we spend in the small space of a subway car with strangers; then the doors open, people move on, and we may never see them again. When Virgil and Virgil’s siblings bury their parents, they realize they hadn’t taken the time to really know them either.
Orlandersmith has never shied away from topics others might find difficult. And the poetry and lyricism of her writing always casts an enchanting spell, in part because of the unusual way she sees things.
“I have synesthesia,” she says, “which means images come to me as sound and color, all together. Poetry, painting, and music all merge. A scene for me might combine the rhythms of Bebop, ‘Stray Cat Blues,’ and an Edward Hopper painting to express the character’s emotions.”
The fullness Orlandersmith brings to the action of the play also comes alive in the vivid details of her character’s life. Virgil, she says, is not only the audience’s guide but also a participant, and she hopes people might recognize themselves in Virgil’s quest to find answers to life’s purpose.
Orlandersmith is also driven to look at death, especially when Virgil decides to become a mortician.
“Although I offer very detailed images of the preparation of bodies for death,” Orlandersmith says, “I hope what that conveys is a reverence for life.”
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Boston Theater Marathon returns
The 26th Boston Theater Marathon unfolds Sunday, starting at noon on the Kate Snodgrass Stage at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, 949 Commonwealth Ave. The marathon features 50 10-minute plays, ranging in topics from magic to molting, from familiar playwrights and new voices. Each play is sponsored by a New England theater company. The marathon will be divided into five blocks, each featuring 10 new plays. Theatergoers can purchase tickets for specific 10-play blocks or for the full event. In case you can’t make it in person, the marathon will also be livestreamed. Go to bu.edu/bpt/performances/boston-theater-marathon-xxvi for more details and ticket information.
SPIRITUS/VIRGIL’S DANCE
Written and performed by Dael Orlandersmith. Directed by Neel Keller. At Merrimack Repertory Theatre, 50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell. May 8-26. Tickets $21-$78. 978-654-4678, www.mrt.org.
Terry Byrne can be reached at trbyrne818@gmail.com.