The B-Side

The Wooster Group THE B-SIDE: “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons” A Record Album Interpretation With Eric Berryman, Jasper McGruder, Philip Moore Director: Kate Valk Mise en Scène: Elizabeth LeCompte Lighting: Ryan Seelig Sound: Eric Sluyter Video: Robert Wuss Costumes: Enver Chakartash Musical Director: Gareth Hobbs Stage Manager / Video Operator: Erin Mullin Set Building: Joseph Silovsky Studios Videographer: Zbigniew Bzymek Production Manager: Bona Lee THE B-SIDE is based on the 1965 LP “Negro Folklore from Texas State Prisons,” which features work songs, blues, spirituals, preaching, and toasts from inmates in Texas’ then-segregated agricultural prison farms. The album was brought to The Wooster Group by performer Eric Berryman after he saw the Group’s previous record album interpretation EARLY SHAKER SPIRITUALS. In THE B-SIDE, Berryman plays the album and transmits the material live, by channeling, via an in-ear receiver, the voices of the men on the record. Accompanying him are Jasper McGruder and Philip Moore. Berryman also provides context from the book Wake Up Dead Man: Hard Labor and Southern Blues by Bruce Jackson, the folklorist who recorded the album at the prison in 1964 and is now a SUNY Distinguished Professor at the University at Buffalo. Production History 2016 November 9-19: The Performing Garage 2017 September 8-10: Wellspring Theatre, Taipei Arts Festival, Taiwan 2017 September 23-24: Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, Republic of Korea 2017 October 25-November 19: The Performing Garage Photo @ Zbigniew Bzymek, Courtesy of The Wooster Group.