"Charles Mee Jr.’s lyrical, fictionalized bio-play soot and spit conjures Castle's world and work in a beautifully designed, dreamily evocative production directed by Kim Weild. From the moment we enter the space we are transported as [the show] springs to vivid life on a rustic, neatly cluttered set, with clever projections and pieces of playful art. It is a strange and lovely thing, a theatrical reanimation of an artist and his work." --The New York Times

New Ohio Theatre and Our Voices present
SOOT AND SPIT

ASL Interpreted performances: June 8 (7:30 PM) & June 10 (2 PM) Interpreters: Kat Dudina and Jon Wolfe Nelson

Autism-friendly performance: June 17 (2 PM) Download an Informational Packet

What drives a single person to create nearly 20,000 works of art? Celebrating the life of James Castle, one of America's great outsider artists, Our Voices presents the world premiere of acclaimed playwright Charles Mee's soot and spit. Born profoundly deaf, Castle never learned to read, write, sign or speak. His art was his language. Bringing his world to life through bluegrass, dance, and multi-media displays of his works, soot and spit enables its audience to experience the “other”- and rejoice in the unquenchable creativity of the human spirit.

Featuring: Robert Ariza*, Karen Ashino, Estelle Bajou*, Alida Rose Delaney, John Ford Dunker*, JW Guido, Peregrine Heard, Toussaint Jeanlouis*, Geraldine Leer*, Christopher Lopes, Douglas Waterbury-Tieman*, and Arielle Yoder*

Running time: 90 minutes, no intermission

Orchestrations by Daniel Puccio
Sets by Matthew Imhoff
Costume Design by Haley Peterson
Lighting Design by Paul Miller
Media Design by Boyd Branch
Props Design by Leontine Greenberg
Choreography by Donnie Mather
Associate Costume Design by Jennifer Anderson
Costume Crafts Artisian - Cybele Moon
Assistant Lighting Design by Annie Weigland
Music Direction by Dan Pardo
Associate Music Direction by Nathan Dame
Production Managed by Scott Schneider
Stage Management by Michael J. Tosto
Assistant Stage Management by Elizabeth Fontaine
Associate Produced by Stanley Bahorek
Produced and General Managed by Aaron Simms

OUR VOICES creates innovative theater that exalts diversity, engenders understanding, provokes empathy and offers an alternate way for society to organize itself. They actively investigate themes of otherness in society whether they are culture, language, gender, sexual orientation or ability while cultivating an inclusive experience that more accurately represents our shared humanity and the world in which we live.

SOOT AND SPIT was developed, in part, through the Archive Residency, a program of New Ohio Theatre and IRT Theater.

The Archive Residency is generously supported, in part, with funds from The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation.