Blood at the Root

Methodological Approach(es):    

• A stylized ensemble movement-based play
• Exploring the thematic elements of Devised Theatre and variations Viewpoints methodology of relation to space, relationship, and time
• Augusto Boal's Image Theatre (part of Theatre of the Oppressed pedagogy) 

Director's Statement

Roots. Exposure of Power. Justice.

Blood at the Root highlights the continued conversation around racial inequity and injustice as it infringes on our personal lives and sparks local and national movements. One of these movements inspired Blood at the Root. This play is based on events that occurred fifteen years ago at a High School in Jena, Louisiana. Students encounter inequities and injustices that soon grow beyond their campus and the Louisiana borders to impact our nation. Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters marched on Jena in what was described as the "largest civil rights demonstration in years." Some may remember this story. Some of you are learning about it tonight. I believe this play is essential for various reasons, the most important being the impact we all experience in our lives when faced with hate and violence against one another. This hate is layered into our soil…but perhaps it's time to look at our history more truthfully. Work together, heal together, and plant something new.

The title of the play, Blood at the Root, comes from a 1939 Billie Holiday song entitled "Strange Fruit." The song protests the lynching of black Americans and acknowledges how anti-blackness is part of the foundation of our country. Like Holiday's poetic imagery, the tree in front of Jena High School also takes on significant meaning within the world of Blood at the Root, representing how anti-black racism has "roots" in our country's history and institutions. The events and protests of 2020 remind us that these realities still exist today. As much as we want to examine and change racism in America, it is difficult to abolish something so deeply rooted in our history.  

Our 7-week rehearsal process was dedicated to developing purposeful relationships through scene work and choreography/movement with the dialogue. A second major production component is Augusto Boal's Image Theatre exercise from the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology. This unique method uses still images to explore abstract concepts, such as relationships, emotions, and realistic situations. These images are then placed together and 'dynamized' or brought to life in a collective living perception of "unity" riddled with provocations. Image Theatre work is often used to explore internal or external oppression, unconscious thoughts, and feelings. 

Through provocatively lyrical Boalian Image Theatre and collective tableaux work, as a director, I constantly empowered our ensemble to challenge the intrinsic links between justice, bias, and identity and create their own unique interpretation of this text and characters so carefully crafted by Morisseau. The entire cast and production team have diligently rehearsed and devised the collective creation of the world of Blood at the Root, and the play, in turn, has reseeded our thoughts, self-conceptions, and worldviews. Theatre is rooted in personal, intentional interaction - a society within itself, a microcosm of society as a whole.