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Blood at the Root, by Dominique Morisseau
November 9, 2023 @ 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
$10 – $20
In 1939, Billie Holiday sang, “Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.” When a Black student disrupts the status quo at her high school by occupying space typically reserved for white students, her community erupts in hate speech, violence, and chaos. Inspired by the Jena Six case, which roiled tensions in Louisiana in 2006, this play scrutinizes the intrinsic links between justice, bias, and identity. Moving, lyrical, and bold, Blood at the Root probes the complexities of race, individual freedoms, and what justice means in America when biases have been normalized.
As Maya Phillips, for American Theatre (TCG) writes: [Blood at the Root] aims to take the language of incrimination, of privilege, of prejudice, and transform it into poetry, music, and choreography that does not obscure the underlying sociopolitical messages, but rather highlights and recontextualizes them, steering them away from the straightforward black and white of the issue to instead probe the grey areas of politics and social culpability. Amid music, choral performances, and dance, each student explores his or her proximity to the events and determines their place within a tradition of hatred and segregation.
Nov. 9-11 & 15-18 @ 7:30 pm, Nov. 19 @ 2:00 pm
Goode Theatre, 4601 Monarch Way
Tickets: bit.ly/ODUArtsTix
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In 1939, Billie Holiday sang, “Southern trees bear a strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root.” When a Black student disrupts the status quo at her high school by occupying space typically reserved for white students, her community erupts in hate speech, violence, and chaos. Inspired by the Jena Six case, which roiled tensions in Louisiana in 2006, this play scrutinizes the intrinsic links between justice, bias, and identity. Moving, lyrical, and bold, Blood at the Root probes the complexities of race, individual freedoms, and what justice means in America when biases have been normalized.
As Maya Phillips, for American Theatre (TCG) writes: [Blood at the Root] aims to take the language of incrimination, of privilege, of prejudice, and transform it into poetry, music, and choreography that does not obscure the underlying sociopolitical messages, but rather highlights and recontextualizes them, steering them away from the straightforward black and white of the issue to instead probe the grey areas of politics and social culpability. Amid music, choral performances, and dance, each student explores his or her proximity to the events and determines their place within a tradition of hatred and segregation.
Nov. 9-11 & 15-18 @ 7:30 pm, Nov. 19 @ 2:00 pm
Goode Theatre, 4601 Monarch Way
Tickets: bit.ly/ODUArtsTix