We create art that explores and inspires the possibility of living in harmony with nature and with one another. We devise and perform site-responsive theater, collaborate & direct community-based story projects and curate creative experiences of many kinds on Clear Creek & beyond.
Ezell: Ballad of A Land Man
Ezell: Ballad of A Land Man is an evolving multi-year original performance and community engagement project devised and presented by Clear Creek Creative. The central character, Ezell, is faced with a choice when offered a job to buy mineral rights on behalf of the oil & gas industry in anticipation of a fracking boom and the chance to reconnect with the people and land of his raising. Read more about the evolution, history and context of Ezell here.
Ezell is touring throughout Appalachia and the U.S. in 2020-2021 and opened at home on Clear Creek in the fall of 2019. The character of Ezell first appeared in Clear Creek Creative’s ensemble-devised Land, Water, Food Story performances and Where's That Power Gonna Come From? Work-in-progress versions of Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man were shared in 2018 during the Clear Creek Solstice Spectacle, at ROOTS Week in Arden, North Carolina and at the Hurricane Gap Community Performance Institute at Pine Mountain Settlement School.
Ezell is devised and performed by Bob Martin, directed by Nick Slie of Mondo Bizarro and produced by Carrie Brunk (see all of our awesome collaborators). Ezell: Ballad of a Land Man is made possible with funding by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Theater Project, with lead funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and additional funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Ezell is also a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation & Development Fund Project co-commissioned by Carpetbag Theater in partnership with Mondo Bizarro and NPN. Ezell is made possible, in part, through a Continuation grant for our partnership with Mondo Bizarro from the Network of Ensemble Theaters' Travel & Exchange Network (NET/TEN) and supported by an Al Smith Fellowship Award granted to Bob Martin for artistic excellence from the Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, which is supported by state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ezell was seeded and evolved over many years with the support of Alternate ROOTS through the Partners in Action program, an Artistic Assistance grant, fiscal sponsorship and the ongoing learning & support of an amazing network of artists. See more images and read more about Ezell.
Above & Below: Robert Martin as Ezell (photos by Erica Fladeland, Holly Stone & Travis Coe): Also below: Samples of the Ezell work-in-progress and other Solstice Spectacle performances at Clear Creek (video by 750Four Productions).
Where's that Power Gonna Come From?
Where's that Power Gonna Come From is a 30-minute touing adaptation of Land, Water, Food Story, an original creative work inspired by the Just Transition from an extractive resource economy to a resilient, renewable future. The piece explores the issue of fracking from multiple vantages and invites us all to action in defending and celebrating the land. The piece was created of, by and for our community and others seeking to understand and activate ourselves as part of a just Appalachian Transition.
Where's That Power Gonna Come From? was performed for a series of events throughout the state organized by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth to inspire and develop a clean energy plan for Kentucky and also at numerous community venues and festivals including First Friday Berea. It is directed by Bob Martin with music direction by Robert Rorrer and performed by Mitch Barrett, Carrie Brunk, Jacob Graber, Bob Martin, Kayla Preston, Robert Rorrer, Mirra Shapiro, and Melody Youngblood with occasional guest artists including Nicole Garneau. Read an article by Nicole Garneau featuring the presentation of Where's That Power Gonna Come From? and a workshop co-led by Clear Creek Creative entitled "Beyond Coal and Toward New Power" at ROOTS Week (Arden, NC).
Land, Water, Food Story
Land, Water, Food Story is a performative walk in the woods guided by musicians, dancers, and theatre makers intended to offer a visceral awakening in relation to the land, water, food and story of Clear Creek at one moment in time. Elements of song, story, spoken word and ceremony are offered amidst a guided walk in the woods interspersed with a multi-course farm-fresh feast. Dozens of artists, musicians and community members in and around the Clear Creek community collaborated to explore our stories and changing connection to one another and the land, water and food of Kentucky. Food accompanying each scene of the performance was sourced from local farmers, foragers and food producers.
Images from the second production of Land, Water Food Story at Clear Creek (photos by Bear Hebert)
Contributing artists and community members include Mitch Barrett, Carrie Brunk, Adam Burke, Bethany Cook, Judith Faulkner, Jacob Graber, Heather Lundy, Bob Martin, Meta Mendel-Reyes, Sarah Miller, Kayla Preston, Robert Rorrer, Mirra Shapiro, Jessie Wilhite, Leah Van Winkle and Melody Youngblood. Numerous local farms, growers and other community members as well as visiting artists were integral to the creation and offering of this work along with the support of Alternate ROOTS’ Parters in Action program. Read an article by Carrie Brunk that describes the threat of hydro-fracking on Clear Creek and the community response and artistic exchanges that partially inspired these productions in The Land Man and a Love For. Images from the 2014 production of Land, Water, Food Story during a Midsummer's Eve. (photos by Melisa Cardona)
Images from the 2014 production of Land, Water, Food Story during a Midsummer's Eve. (photos by Melisa Cardona)
This video offers images from recent Clear Creek Creative productions celebrating our community's land, water, food and stories and inspiring us to envision and enact a future beyond fossil fuels. Featuring dozens of community artists, craftspeople, farmers, foragers & myriad other contributors. Music by Rising Appalachia, video documentation & editing by Mondo Bizarro, photography by Melisa Cardona, audio voice-over by Carrie Brunk and compilation by Bob Martin of Clear Creek Creative.
On the Creek
In our first years at Clear Creek, we gathered oral histories from neighbors and long-time residents in a project we called On the Creek. Over several years, we developed a series of original short plays that were performed during the Clear Creek Festival each year to share some of those stories including:
A Tree Called Earl. The story of a wiley character who lived on and off the Creek, considered locally part homeless wanderer and part truth-teller of stories otherwise untold. Directed by Bob Martin and performed by Mitch Barrett as Earl with Tammy Clemons, Bob Martin, Carol O'Brien, Jaleah Owens, and Robert Rorrer.
Alice. The story of an early 20th century midwife who preceded us on site and hand-dug the stone root cellar that now serves as an altar. Directed by Bob Martin and performed by Carol O'Brien as Alice with Mitch Barrett, Tammy Clemons, Bob Martin, Moose Morgan, Ron Owens, and Robert Rorrer.
Stories from the Still. A composite of numerous characters and stories about moonshining as the early work of building a local economy in Appalachia. Directed by Bob Martin and performed by Mitch Barrett, Bob Martin, Moose Morgan and Robert Rorrer.
Community Story Plays Directed by Bob Martin
Bob Martin works with communities to engage the power of people to shape our own stories and create a future of hope & abundance for all. He has directed and co-written community story plays with hundreds of people in Harlan, Owsley, Rockcastle, Letcher, Clay and Estill Counties of Kentucky as well as co-devising and directing community story film projects in Brooklyn, NY. Bob draws on his experience in Community-Based/Community-Engaged Theater, Theater for Community Development, Site-Specific Theater, Applied Theater, and Educational Theater and Community Performance to guide his work with communities. He has also taught and provided training in community story work to community producers and students through the Kentucky Arts Council, Brushy Fork Institute, Hurricane Gap Community Performance Institute, Partners for Education at Berea College and Eastern Kentucky University.
Community Story Musical, Higher Ground 3: Talkin' Dirt Harlan Co., KY, Cumberland, Southeast Community Technical College Directed by Bob Martin Written by Linda Paris-Bailey, Robert Gipe, Theresa Osbourne. (Footage from Higher Ground and HomeSong production teams)
Community Story Musical, HomeSong. (Footage from Higher Ground and HomeSong production teams)
Interested in creating with Clear Creek, engaging one of our original performances or joining us for a future production? Be in touch.
Banner photo at page header by Erica Fladeland.