←Recommendations of Deluge

How I could resist reading this play when I saw one of my favorite writers listed. James Baldwin sets the stage for this beautiful poem by Lamedman. A poem of heartache and struggle and an overwhelming feeling of coming to terms with those things we do not have answers for or don't think we have the courage to face those answers when they come. This play speaks for us all and that is a monumental task that the writer has achieved with such grace and subtlety.

A lovely nod to Baldwin and perhaps an extension of his ponderings on a 'higher power'-brilliantly left to the reader's interpretation. There is an essential struggle underlying each part that seems to endless flow into each other. It's gritty yet hopeful and everything in between. A good play should take us somewhere and Debbie Lamendman doesn't disappoint- the interplay of sound and movement is sure to make a spellbound theatrical experience.

A beautifully crafted poetic piece, each character represents different parts of a person's soul, conflicting and yet cohesive. At times, I was pitter and at times, I was patter. I have been surrender and I am always struggle. So full of emotion and longing and imagery, it is an endless deluge. The musicality and rhythm of the words played brilliantly into the movement and dance at the end and I can only imagine how gorgeous this will be performed.

Less a play than a poem, this piece is indeed a deluge, an inexorable tide of language, unstopping and unstoppable, endlessly evocative, yanking at our emotions. What I love is that with each reading there's something new to discover. I can only imagine the joy with which actors, directors and choreographers will dive into the material. Lovely.

Make of DELUGE what you will.

That's why it's here! Though Lamedman doesn't leave you completely without a compass. The four voices vary distinctly in tone, need, and yearning. Specificity of meaning may be up to the director and performers, but the beauty, loss, and emotions are powerfully grounded in this elegant deluge of words, thoughts, images.

Encouraged as a verbal movement piece, there are tremendous staging and choreographic possibilities, all of which will have a powerful impact upon audiences.

What a beautiful and evocative play, full of poetry and emotion and with so many wonderful possibilities for casting and staging. Lamedman does something marvelously unique here that makes her play open to different interpretations, yet her sure command of dialogue and the stage create a powerfully theatrical experience for the reader and I'm sure, an audience too. Would be wonderful to see on stage.

Poetic and moving, each character showing a different aspect. The lyrical beauty weaves throughout the piece, creating and exciting emotions like poetry, yet remaining theatrical and present.

How refreshing to read a play stripped of the temporal accoutrements that unwittingly come to define our day-to-day living. Lamedman’s play makes me think of Tennessee Williams’ dictum that he was a “poet who wrote plays” and Beckett’s unapologetic plunging into the heart of the human spirit. Bravo for letting Baldwin's poem take you to the watery depths where, as you say, you “need the pressure to feel alive” and for resurfacing with such timeless and timely treasures. Unlike poetry that fails to come alive on the page, Deluge, by its very nature, soars.

Although inspired by the poem “Untitled” James Baldwin, the poetry here is completely Lamedman’s. This experimental montage captures all of the feelings that come with any change in the weather, whether it be joy, fear, sadness, longing, etc…, and they are all expressed with a beauty that pierces right down to the soul. I’d love to see this staged, as there are so many possibilities for quite the theatrical experience.

I love that the play ends with a connective gesture. Deluge feels to me like an honest response to a long period of difficulty causes by a great struggle. Something anyone can relate to. As a piece that is open to many interpretations, I hope it becomes a favorite for directors who want to collaborate with it. Brava!