 Performer |
 Educator |
 Motivator |
 Family |
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An
original theatrical composition by Jennifer Rose, 75 minutes plus intermission.
Josie, who is fourteen years old at the beginning of the show and
fifty at the end, is a fictional character made from true stories
Jennifer heard from her mother and other Appalachian women. Josie's
telling of her story is mixed with plenty of singing, of course.
This production is perfect for community theater and university events. |
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From the impetuous girl of fourteen to
the wise and witty woman of fifty, Josie: A Mountain Portrait
tells the feminine side of the Appalachian story, complete with the home
births and deaths , personal tragedies and determined survival common
to the rural experience. Josie is not the story of any
single woman; rather, she is the story of Appalachian women. |
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"Josie
is a composite of many mountain women that I know, including my mother and
her family. Their stories deserve to be told"
Jennifer Rose, creator and performer of Josie: A Mountain Portrait |
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Josie at fifty is Jennifer's spokeswoman for traditional Appalachian values. "It's easy to forget where we came from in today's society, where we look so much to the future. Josie is my way of reminding people to honor the past as the founder of today." |
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"Can't nobody escape their history." As a woman having lived all her life in the twentieth century, Grandmother Josie Hancock has seen her share of changes. As she reminisces about her past and comments on the present, she encourages her listeners to always remember their own heritage. | |
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Women throughout history have provided
the strength and determination for society to continue, regardless of
personal struggle and feelings of helplessness when faced with the enormity
of the situation they are fighting. Josie is the spirit of all women
as she deals with the responsibility of married life and motherhood; from
the tragedy of losing two children to facing the news that the mines where
her husband works are exploding. |
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For many young women in Appalachia,
it was their ability to imagine better times and lighter burdens that
carries them through the hardships of daily life. That same unsinkable
character is still common in the Southern Highlands today, passed from
mother to daughter in the tradition of feminine strength shared by many
of America's regional cultures. |
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Works of
art are often the products of an artist's concern for the direction their
society seems to be taking, and Jennifer's Josie is certainly
such a work.
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Jennifer Rose originally developed
Josie: A Mountain Portrait as a show for universities,
but before the work was even titled, she was asked to present it as a
performance piece during the opening of an exhibit of pencil portraites
by her husband, Alfredo Escobar. Since then, Josie has introduced
herself to men and women across Kentucky, and is scheduled to appear on
stages across the eastern United States. |
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| "Sometimes someone else, in this case, Josie, can speak to us in ways a 'real' person cannot." | ||||
For more information,
contact Jennifer's team directly at
info@jenniferrose.com
