early roots: a play for voices - co-director

As part of my work as the producer of Alternate ROOTS’ 40th Anniversary Reunion, I commissioned Will MacAdams to write a short play about the early years of ROOTS. Wading through archival audio, video, and poorly transcribed oral histories that I had done with 20+ elders, Will MaAdams tackled the subject with humor and reverence. With Kathie deNobriga playing herself, Early ROOTS: A Play for Voices tells the history through the recounting of a dream from the wee-hours-of-Late-Night at ROOTS. The play successfully captures the fragmented history of an organization founded by artists who work in an ephemeral form. 

Written by Will MacAdams
Co-Directed by Bob Martin and Ashley Sparks
Performed by Kathie deNobriga (as herself), Marquette Dupree, Phil Cramer, Melisa Cardona, Jonathan Clark, Lisa Shattuck
Lighting Designer: Billy Munoz
Stage Manager: Bonnie Gabel

Photos by Ariston Jacks

"Sparks commissioned widely traveled playwright Will MacAdams to script a short play incorporating the personalities and memorable productions that ROOTS had spawned, providing him some 40 hours of interviews and transcripts as fodder. It played like gangbusters."
- Jim O'Quinn, American Theater Magazine

2016
Arden, NC
Presented as part of ROOTS Week / ROOTS Reunion