Some experiences alter our lives so dramatically that even years after the actual event has passed the images remain sharp in our memory. When a fellow classmate in high school killed himself, Amontaine Aurore could not shake the memory. Now many years later, she is performing a one-woman show “Free Desiree,” inspired by the events of her youth.

“I knew I had a strong, good piece based on what happened to me,” she said. “It really affected me.”

The show is coming to Orcas Center’s Off-Center Stage on Saturday, June 9, 8 p.m.

In 2010, Aurore, who lives in Seattle, received a grant to create a new work of theater. She based one of the characters on herself and the other one on her sister Michell Marshall, of Orcas Island, who is portrayed as a cheerleader plotting how to become the first pom-pom wielding Blaxploitation star.

The main character Desiree is an outcast who learns to embrace her differences after the drummer in her high school band committees suicide and no one seems concerned.

Although based on a dark event the show is infused with comedy, multiple characters and a lot of dancing true to 70’s style, like the locomotion and the funky chicken.

“It takes a tremendous amount of energy to maintain the focus,” Aurore said. “There is a lot of physicality with several dances and six different characters.”

Marshall said she is flattered to be included in the production even if it is an over-dramatization of her as a teen.

“It’s charming, witty and funny,” said Marshall. “She is a tremendous writer and at the end she really pulls everything together.”

For more info, visit  http://tenauras.com.