Orlandersmith, born Donna Dael Theresa Orlander Smith Brown in 1959, in New York City's East Harlem.
But she is a good mimic, and in switching from female to male, from Puerto Rican to Italian or Irish, from youth to elderly, she only rarely slips from characterization into caricature.
[3] Part of her award-winning Beauty's Daughter's program can be heard as a segment of a September 1996 taping of radio show This American Life; in this segment, Orlandersmith performs "When You Talk About Music", in which she portrays a 31-year-old Italian male who meets a black woman at a mutual friend's wedding and finds how much he misses musical expression.
Misha Berson, reviewing for The Seattle Times wrote: "An imposing, fervent performer-writer, Orlandersmith clearly knows this terrain by heart.
"[5] The Gimmick was produced Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop from April 16, 1999 in previews, officially on May 5, 1999 to May 23, 1999, directed by Chris Coleman.
[6] The play was first produced at the McCarter Theatre, Princeton, New Jersey on February 28, 1998, performed by Orlandersmith and directed and conceived by Peter Askin.
Directed by Gordon Edelstein, the cast featured Orlandersmith (Mira), Roxanna Hope (Desiree), Michael Laurence (Loman), and Matthew Schechter (Luka).
The CurtainUp reviewer wrote: "...it is written in a beautifully composed, essentially lyrical, narrative-driven style... 'Horsedreams' continues a recurring theme that runs through 'Yellowman', as well as other Orlandersmith's plays: how children are undone by the sins of their parents...
[13] The play was presented Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop starting on April 22, 2015 in previews, to May 31, 2015, directed by Neel Keller.