Somewhat straightforwardly political — but also deeply humane — is Until the Flood, a moving and important piece by Dael Orlandersmith, which she also performs.
In it she charts the story surrounding the fatal shooting on Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014. The facts have been disputed but what is known is that the young black man, who was due to start college, stole some cigarillos in his neighbourhood store and, after the police were called, was shot 12 times by Dennis Wilson, a young officer.
Creating eight fictionalised characters, black and white, young and old, Orlandersmith delves into racism in modern America, and the entrenched positions that help perpetuate it.
Among others, we meet the black retired teacher Louisa, who recalls growing up in a segregated town where black and Jewish people were expected to “know their place”; Rusty, the white retired cop who talks about the fear Wilson must have felt, despite the fact that Brown was unarmed; Connie, the white teacher who cannot understand why her even-handedness — “two lives have been ruined” — caused the end of her valued friendship with a black colleague; and bright teenager Paul, whose main ambition in life is to get out of his black housing project alive.
Much of it is painful to listen to but Orlandersmith injects wry humour. Reuben, a black sixtysomething barber, speaks with gentle contempt of two middle-class university students who came to town to research the killing — “one black, one white, both green” — and their handwringing liberal outlook that would cast him as a victim, rather than the successful property-owning businessman he is.
Neel Keller directs economically and, with a new garment, a different stride, a subtle shift in the way she holds herself, Orlandersmith neatly delineates each character, and makes even the deeply unsympathetic Dougray, a white racist and homophobe, believable and human.
At Edinburgh until Aug 25 (tickets.edfringe.com); Until the Flood is at the Arcola Theatre, E8 (arcolatheatre.com) Sept 4-28
The best theatre shows to see at Edinburgh Fringe 2019
