Actor

Playwright

After experiencing a series of losses, Virgil reconnects with a Bronx friend now working as a funeral director, and embarks on an unexpected journey —  one that challenges their sense of identity, memory, and what it means to live with purpose. Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith — and inspired by Dante’s Inferno — Spiritus is a stirring solo play about how we live and how we die. Each reading will feature a different celebrated actor taking on the role of Virgil—offering a fresh, unique, and deeply personal interpretation of this moving solo work.

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Spiritus

In this exploration of the realities of death through the eyes of a watchful and troubled individual, we meet Virgil -- a kid who used to hang out in cemeteries with friends. As an adult, Virgil wonders: what does it mean to live a fulfilled life? Spiritus/Virgil’s Dance is an extraordinary meditation on finding purpose in the midst of the ordinariness of daily life.

Spiritus/Virgil's Dance

Merrimack Repertory Theatre

Latin for breath, “Spiritus” is often used figuratively to mean spirit. In Dael Orlandersmith’s solo piece Spiritus/Virgil's Dance the word takes on a metaphorical meaning for a soul on a quest. In conversation with Dante’s Divine Comedy, we meet Virgil in the middle of an ordinary life. With their father’s passing, Virgil reframes death and finds the extraordinary they’ve been searching for.

Rattlestick Theater

When COVID-19 brought the nation to a screeching halt on March 13, 2020, we were exactly one week away from welcoming audiences to the first performance of Until the Flood. Now, we are thrilled to be collaborating with All Arts and seven other regional theatres to make this important work available for free online for the next three years.

Until the Flood

A poetic journey of a artist/dancer/father questioning the balance of his passions—art, culture, family. From Brooklyn to Massachusetts to Russia, Antonio struggles to reconcile multiple ethnic identities. He wrestles with the legacy of stereotypes of masculinity while recognizing there is beauty in manhood and becoming a father. Powerful poetry is intermixed with original movement, music and projected imagery in a “brilliant, movingly done [and] virtuosic performance by Suarez” (DC Metro).

Actor, Playwright

Dael Orlandersmith

Events

Past events

Apr 13, 2026

Spiritus · Vineyard Theatre

8 - 26 May, 2024

Spiritus/Virgil's Dance · Merrimack Repertory Theatre

About

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