THE IN[HEIR]ITANCE PROJECT: EXODUS COASTAL VIRGINIA

A devised/new play development.

An examination of the history and lived experiences of the people of Hampton Roads in relationship to the themes and narrative of the book of Exodus. The Coastal Virginia Exodus Play is an original play created and developed with the 757/Hampton Roads community that will be shaped and refined with the cast.

Led by The InHEIRitance Project, a national arts organization, the project's playmakers will infuse their experiences into this completely original, hyper-local script about the 7 cities - Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News and Virginia Beach - and their relationships with each other historically, as imagined through the lens of a family gathering.

A final play will premiere at the Virginia Arts Festival in May 2022 at the Attucks Theater.  

Community Partners/Orgs:  

The IN[HEIR]ITANCE Project

Hampton Roads Community Foundation

Virginia Humanities

Lippman Kanfer Foundation

Virginia Arts Festival

 WHRO

Invited into the production process as a 'local' artistic collaborator with the primary focus of maintaining the cultural integrity of this newly devised piece.   

During our 4 to 6-week rehearsal process, we wanted to be that folks of the Hampton Roads community's voices, insights, and perspectives were not only heard but amplified through the theatrical production that we were building and embracing each as an individual with their own skills and talents.

As the Assistant Director, my primary goal and focus were maintaining cultural integrity as an 'in-field research contributor' on behalf of the Hampton Roads community's unique history and perspectives while devising Exodus: Homecoming. 

•  Breaking down scenes to develop characterizations 

• Co-facilitating artist salons to gather content and context for our developing script 

• Collaborating creatively with the actors, producers and technical designers to build the show from the ground up 

• Documenting and analyzing creative practices using written notes, digital archival methods, performance 

'Devising' is building a theatrical production through a process where a creative team develops a show collaboratively with each contribution serving the narrative/story/plot as a whole. (ATHE)

FRAMEWORK

- An ensemble movement-based project with the local artists of the Hampton Roads community

1.  Through a devising tool called ‘Artist Salons’, the team conceptualized the outline for Exodus: Homecoming through a series of themes and topics about adulthood, childhood, generational bonds vs curses, nature vs nurture thoughts and processes. These salons hosting a series of conversations, creative explorations, text studies, open rehearsals, and individual meetings where we create spaces for participants from many perspectives to learn with and from their own neighbors.
2.  Word Association Walls: An interactive tool for collecting an array of words/thoughts/topics, etc., stemming from a central prompt or theme. For socially-charged creative work, these word association walls can be pivotal in developing conversation starters about expansive topics and simplifying them. 

About the documentary: The InHEIRitance Project teams up with the Hampton Roads community to create a play that features the seven regional cities as an intergenerational family. Go behind the scenes to see the making of unique performance that came to Hampton Roads in the spring of 2022.   

Documentary Director and Producer: Kendrick Hopkins Jr.

The play itself explored the hidden (and not so hidden) struggles of the Hampton Roads area. Each show was followed by a talkback panel with members of the creative team and local leaders to discuss the themes of play, the process of making it, and the possibilities for Hampton Roads. The production was created as part of VAF’s 25th anniversary season.

WHRO producers followed InHEIRitance Project artists who began working with community members in August 2021 exploring three narratives side-by-side: the story of Exodus, the history of Coastal Virginia, and the reflections of the people who call this place home

In 2023, the WHRO Public Media documentary 'EXODUS: HOMECOMING' won an Emmy Award for Societal Concerns (Short Form Content).