Redbone & Whitby to Present Work-in-Progress Presentation of CONVERSATIONS at Ancram Center

Afro-Indigenous singer/songwriter Martha Redbone and her collaborator/husband Aaron Whitby will bring a work-in-progress showing of their new theater project CONVERSATIONS to the Ancram Center for the Arts on Sunday, August. 4, at 4pm. 

This new piece was developed from intimate conversation with Native American elders and family members who have been in Redbone's life for decades. Working with The Civilians team in residency as part of Ancram Center's Summer Play Lab program, Redbone and Whitby are turning these conversations into songs, stories and dramatic vignettes in a cross-cultural art form that she hopes will speak to audiences in a new way. 

“Often we don't get to hear the viewpoints of elders, and their role in the world we live in today,” said Redbone. “The piece we're developing will be based on stories about their lives and personal experiences. They have given me the honor and permission to turn their stories into songs written with my longtime collaborator Aaron Whitby. I'm thrilled to have this special time to develop it during the Ancram Center residency.”

Redbone is celebrated for roots music that combines the folk and mountain blues sounds of her Appalachian childhood and the electric grit of her teenage years in pre-gentrified Brooklyn. She inherited her powerful gospel-singing father's voice and the resilient spirit of her mother's Native American heritage. The New Yorker calls her music "a brilliant collision of cultures." 

Now in its 5th season, Ancram Center's Summer Play Lab offers exceptional artists space, production support, and a budget to develop and present new works. Ancram Center for the Arts is an award-winning theater located in New York's Hudson Valley. Housed in an historic Grange Hall, Ancram Center has since 2016 presented groundbreaking theater and musical performances by nationally recognized theater artists. Ancram Center for the Arts receives significant annual support from the New York State Council on the Arts and in 2023 was awarded a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. For tickets and information visit www.ancramcenter.org.

Photo Credit: Molly Magnusson 

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