This is probably a cliche the capital-"W" Writer in in me wishes I would avoid. But, is something really a cliche when it's literally true? As "Forever" ended, all I could say was, "wow". It is a rapturous 80 minutes.
There are light subjects--stories of favorite musicians and poets, a sincere ode to the power of art. There are darker subjects, child abuse, alcoholism, and rape. All of them are handled with grace, and have equal power for different reasons-especially one moment when the two mix:
Dael Olandersmith tells the story of doing homework as a young girl. She excels in writing, appreciating the beauty of it--down to the letterforms. She does not do well in math. I had the fleeting, funny thought to raise my fist in solidarity, but I resisted. The story quickly turns to the first instance of child abuse, her failure resulting in a beating.
My consolation from this story is that she damn-well put the skills she did possess to great use. Skimming her bio in the playbill I found that she has quite an impressive body of work, and I thought, "I hope I have the privilege to see more of it."
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