AUBURN, Ala. – “Alabama Love Stories”, an original work by Professor Tessa Carr, can be seen in Auburn University Theatre’s Black Box Theatre from April 11 – April 20.
“Alabama Love Stories” is a performance piece conceived and directed by Carr that tells tales of love and ordinary Alabamians. Carr is an associate professor of theatre and the artistic director of the Mosaic Theatre Company.
The piece strives to create conversation about the many communities inhabiting Alabama and focuses on love as a language to encourage dialogue.
It incorporates poetry, song and physical theatre to tell a story that includes 200 years of Alabama history. “Alabama Love Stories” follows a loose chronological thread that starts with Native American history and moves through critical events in history like the Civil War to end in the contemporary moment exploring the evolution of marriage laws in Alabama.
“The piece does not tell a clear linear story of love,” said Carr. “We hope it portrays that fierce and compassionate emotion in its complex glory.”
Carr began the project with support from the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts. Her research incorporates archival pieces found in the Alabama State Archives, the Auburn Special Collections, the Birmingham Public Library Archives and New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center of Research in Black Culture.
“This past summer and fall semester were spent culling through multiple collections of documents within the state archive,” said Carr. “About 70 percent of what we have reviewed did not even make the first cut.”
The theatre department will also be presenting accessible and sensory friendly performances of “Alabama Love Stories” to ensure that the Black Box Theatre is welcoming to all patrons. The accessibility team is working with American Sign Language Interpreters, creating 3D models of the set and tactile lobby displays and scripting audio description.
The accessible performance will be held on Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 p.m. and a sensory relaxed performance will be available for guests on Tuesday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m.
The artistic team for “Alabama Love Stories” includes direction by Tessa Carr, scenic and lighting design by Danielle Baisden Curtis, costume design by Tracy Oleinick, music direction by Logan Pace, sound design by student designer Grace Hamilton, and movement and choreography by student, Connor Dealy. The cast includes Emily Fayard, Hudson Hubbard, Matt Stephenson, Jessi Rogers, Jackson Whiting, Noël Dudley, Zac Moss, Ebony Strong, Nyala Hall, London Carlisle, Salem Gaddis, Falan Buie-Madden, and Allison Dixon.
Auburn University students receive free tickets to all theatre performances.
For more information, go to the ticketing page.
