Telling Her Own Stories, Getting Stories of Others

Practicing what she preaches in "Our Own Stories" workshops (and having studied with Spalding Gray), she tells her own story, "The C-Word: A Life-meets-Art Cancer Story." In a related public service program, she pairs with an oncologist in an interactive format: "A Doctor-Patient Dialogue on Cancer."  Other original pieces for touring are "Confessions of a Clergy Wife," "Once Upon a Stage," and "My Own Christmas Story- with Apologies to Norman Rockwell."

Roles

She was featured in four Southeastern productions of "Wit," and was named the '03 Southeastern Theatre Conference Best Actress for her role in "Eleemosynary." At the Asolo Theatre, she was in the world premiere of Horton Foote's "Talking Pictures." Other recent notable roles in regional theaters have been in "Hamlet," "Doubt," "Three Tall Women,"  "Driving Miss Daisy," "Sister Mary Ignatius...."  and Beckett's "Happy Days." 

Past Works

Barbara conceived and co-directed "Jazz, Jam, No Jive," an original play by and about Tampa's African-American teenagers, with music by Nat Adderley.  Programs based on literary lives and works highlighted the years she headed Taproot Theater, an educational ensemble in Florida.

Barbara and her husband, Russell, now live in the mountains near Clyde, North Carolina, where on occasional breaks from learning lines, she enjoys playing piano, harp, guitar, autoharp, and dulcimer- carrying a harmonica in her purse.

 RESUME/ VITAE

PROFESSIONAL THEATER EXPERIENCE:

Actors’ Equity, 1989-2000

Off-Broadway 
 

IVY ROWE (1-woman show, from Lee Smith novel, Fair and Tender Ladies), Provincetown Playhouse, ‘91

IVY ROWE (1-woman show, from Lee Smith novel, Fair and Tender Ladies), 45^th St. Theatre, ‘90

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

IVY ROWE (1-woman show, from Lee Smith novel, Fair and Tender Ladies), 3-week run, ‘93

Regional Theater (a partial list of leading roles)

TALKING PICTURES (Horton Foote Premiere), Mrs. Jackson, Asolo Theatre, Sarasota FL, ‘90
DRIVING MISS DAISY, directed by John Gulley (faculty UNC-G), Cape May Stage NJ, ‘94
WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, Martha, Playmakers, Tampa FL, ‘88
WIT, guest artist, Pied Piper Players, Lakeland FL; Performing Arts Center, Tampa;
               Haywood Arts Regional Theatre, Waynesville NC  (2001-2003)
HAPPY DAYS, Samuel Beckett, directed by Steve Lloyd, Haywood Arts Regional Theatre
ELEEMOSYNARY, Southeastern Theatre Conference Best Actress award, 2003
HAMLET, directed by Steve Lloyd, 2009-2010, Haywood Arts Regional Theatre, Waynesville NC;
             Diana Wortham Theatre, Asheville NC
DOUBT, directed by Suzanne Tinsley, HART, Waynesville NC, 2009-2010

RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE, including Arts-in-Education:

Founder/ Artistic Director, Taproot Theatre, educational touring ensemble, Lakeland FL, '76-'81

Artist-in-the-Schools: Polk and Hillsborough Counties FL,'82-'88- Performances, Workshops;

            Consultant, Language Arts, Polk County Schools: Workshops, Inservice Training for teachers

Artistic Associate, Playmakers, professional theatre company, Tampa FL, '88-'89

Co-director: JAZZ, JAM, NO JIVE, African- American teenagers, original musical production, Tampa '88

Playwright-in-Residence: Harrison Performing Arts High School, Lakeland FL '91

             University of Texas, Austin- with Suzan Zeder, Chair, New Play Development, ‘94; David Kranes

Florida Humanities Council: Tour as performer, scholar; Chatauqua director;Teacher Institute workshop leader

Workshop Instructor: N.C. Center for Advancement of Teaching; Florida public schools, Playmakers

Our Own Stories workshop leader at schools, conferences, retreats, retirement centers

Folksinger, guitar player: Toured in the 70’s with Lydia & the Pinkhams

Work with Deaf, use of American Sign Language in performance

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:

BA degree, University of Alabama

Phi Beta Kappa, Who's Who, & Mortar Board Honoraries,16 hours postgraduate work, University of South Florida,              Special Education, Gifted   

Summer ‘Intensive’ Workshop with ‘Shakespeare & Company’

Autobiographic Storytelling Workshop (13 selected participants): Spalding Gray, leader, Big Sur CA,'92

LITERARY ADAPTATIONS FOR THE STAGE:

IVY ROWE, from the Lee Smith novel, FAIR AND TENDER LADIES

ON AGATE HILL, from the Lee Smith novel

THE CHRISTMAS LETTERS, from the Lee Smith novella

B. SMITH DOES LEE SMITH (a compilation of Lee Smith excerpts)

THESE NORTH CAROLINA WRITERS!  a sampler, with music & anecdotes

ELLEN FOSTER, from the Kaye Gibbons novel

BUCK-OS & LADY MISSES, a Fred Chappell sampler

ANTONIA: THE STORY WITH SIGNS, (American Sign Language), from the Willa Cather novel

 For Taproot Theatre in-the-Schools:

            Stages through the Ages

            Canterbury Tales

            This is your Life, William Shakespeare!

            Out of Darkness (Black Writers)

            If You Ask Me (Student writings)

One-woman shows by adapter, actress:

            Molly Bloom (from Joyce's ULYSSES)

            E. Dickinson (from her letters and poems)

            A Portrait of Virginia Woolf

            Helen Keller,Anne Sullivan: Beyond the Miracle

ORIGINAL ONE-WOMAN SHOWS FOR TOURING:

             The C-Word: A Life-meets-Art Cancer Story

            Confessions of a Clergy Wife  

            Once Upon a Stage: Excerpts & Anecdotes

            My own Christmas Story- with apologies to Norman Rockwell

COMMUNITY PROJECTS:

Conceived and developed performance piece, ACCESS!, with wheelchair cerebral palsy participants

Leader, Communication Workshop, Florida Disabilities Conference

Worked extensively with the Deaf, in the schools and the community

AIDS Benefits, performed on five different occasions

American Cancer Society Benefits, “The C-Word”

Child Advocacy benefits with ELLEN FOSTER & with ‘Mothers Gone Amuck” (compilation script)

Conceived, developed and co-directed JAZZ, JAM, NO JIVE, inner city African-American youth, Tampa '88

Hosted “People & Their Stories” series at local church and local bookstore