Turning of the Bones- DIRECTOR
Turning of the Bones written by New Orleans native Jan Villarrubia was produced in 2009 by “Home, New Orleans?” with ArtSpot Productions and The Vestiges Project. The play tells the story of Kate, a white woman who is struggling to make peace with Camille, the ghost of her long-deceased African-American domestic servant that lived in her family home when she was a child. Turning of the Bones explores the subtle and tolerated racist actions of white families in the 1950's that employed African-American domestics.
Turning of the Bones began as a series of site specific staged readings and community dialogues about race and class in June 2008. The fully mounted production was site-specific at the recently restored Lakeview Baptist Church. Performances were followed by open dialogues hosted each night by a different organization, including ERACE, Junebug Productions, The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Students at the Center, and Truth Be Told.
Written by Jan Villarubia
Directed by Ashley Sparks
Performed by Claudia Baumgarten, Aja Becker, Donald Lewis, Martiza Mercado-Narcisse, Jennifer Pagan, Angela Papale, Lisa Shattuck, and Michael Zarou
March 2009
Lakeview Baptist Church
6100 Canal Blvd.
New Orleans, LA