We were lucky to catch up with Jesse Bliss recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jesse thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
LUMINOUS STREETS is an immersive theatrical tour through Downtown Los Angeles centering on women’s survival and pursuit of justice.
Many people told me that I could not do this show for various reasons such as inability to get legal permission to bring audiences around DTLA.
When The California Arts Council awarded my theatre company, The Roots and Wings Project, with a Cultural Pathways Grant with money included toward this show, I put on a suit jacket and hit the streets, determined to make it work. Because we had a huge hit already in that area at The Last Bookstore with my play, A RECORD OF LIGHT, we had history (herstory). I was able to use this as leverage, a proven example of how we could make it work and had done so in the past. We made individual legal agreements with private business owners and collaborated with Words Uncaged, who provides creative and academic support on the inside and outside of prison walls, to use their central office at the time for a headquarters for our artists and audiences.
The vision for the show was so clear and important to me. Women were owned by men through marriage until the mid-1860’s, only allowed in college for little over a hundred years, earn 30% less than men to this day, are responsible for 75% of the world’s domestic labor, could only legally carry a credit card starting in the 1970’s, and currently what rights we have been “given” are being taken away, putting our society in further danger. We live in a patriarchy and therefore a paradigm that continuously puts us at risk and violates our human rights. Our voices have been shut out.
We have a dream. We want equity.
Allowing this show to come to light meant giving voice to the truth about our existence and what we are subjugated to being alive in this day and age including domestic violence, unsafe streets, homelessness, mental health challenges, living with disabilities and so much more.
The 5 plays really illuminate not only the inhumane treatment we endure, but the humor, strength, grace, conviction, wit, passion, and so much more, women embody to overcome.
To experience these powerful stories in the streets also gives the audience an unforgettable experience with the real-world backdrop of unpredictable Downtown Los Angeles. For example, my play, NIGHT FLOWER, took place at the historic King Eddy Saloon. The regulars were there, as always, filling the bar with the energy of Skid Row life and dynamics in all its’ glory.
The tour was led by Tobias Tubbs who we met in Lancaster State Men’s Prison while running our Writing and Theatre Program. He was convicted as an adolescent and served 29 years for a crime he did not directly commit. He’d only been out one year when he came on board not only as the Tour Guide, but as a Co-Producer. It was exhilarating to be led by Tobias who was not only walking the streets with a deep air of appreciation for being out, but is a true ally. He understood the importance of the work and was behind it with all his might. He is also a man of high spiritualism and intelligence.
This show is meaningful to me because it holds truth, humor, danger, bravery, fun, intelligent writing, and transcendence for all those who experience it as an audience or artist. It shows women claiming their power in challenging circumstances and demanding justice. It shows our humanity.
Jesse, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a mother to an incredible 10-year-old girl. We have 2 cats and love to adventure together, jam out to music and laugh as often as possible. She has been raised deep inside the fold of the arts, always by my side for rehearsals and shows.
I am deeply inspired by music, kind people, nature, and stellar artistry.
As an artist, I am perpetually compelled by the themes of rising above adversity, the strength and capability of the human spirit, and the idea of claiming joy regardless of the messages or circumstances life throws your way.
My art saved my life. Growing up was really tough and art was my reprieve, my salvation, my prayer all the way from the beginning of my life. I create to know who I am. It’s the way I make sense of the world. My work as a playwright, poet, director, performer, my individual identity as an artist, keeps me alive and centered.
My work facilitating writing and theatre in the prisons and as a journalist, producer and host on THINK OUTSIDE THE CAGE on Pacifica Radio KPFK 90.7 FM, a show that addresses all matters of mass incarceration, is my way of giving my gratitude for the path my life took and bringing attention to the ways and reasons unprotected and unsupported people end up in crisis situations. It’s deeply healing and grounding work for me. My life could have gone in an entirely different direction based on the way I grew up. I feel who and where I am is a miracle. I am them. I get it. Nobody growing up in adversity is above those circumstances. Some are luckier than others. Punishing people who need support and healing is a crime against humanity. Art can help dismantle this system and bring healing to those caught in it.
My theatre company was born when 9/11 went down and I got trapped out of New York City on a trip to visit my mother in Sacramento. I was asked to write a play so my work could keep going out there even though I couldn’t be there anymore. I wrote ROOTS AND WINGS about a woman coming to terms with her past to honor her present. I flew to go see it and it was extraordinary. We took the show to San Francisco, and it all went on from there. Thus, was born The Roots and Wings Project.
The Roots and Wings Project is a politically charged, socially transformative project-based theatre company with a mission to provide stage and space for voices of the unnamed, unknown and misunderstood.
We specialize in site-specific theatre and developing new work created by BIPOC women.
We are a women-run company with my partner, Gabriela Lopez de Dennis, as our Associate Producer.
We have an arts education program that provides year-round writing classes for women being held in incarceration at California Institution for Women and one for teenagers in the summer. We offer publishing and culminating performances as well.
We have several, very different, shows that bring fire and advance our mission including MATRIARCH, an unorthodox and intersectional exploration of the roles that women play in a patriarchal society and the urgent need to transform the dynamic, WOMEN AT WORK a works-in-progress experience that brings forth newly developing stories from powerhouse writers, LUMINOUS STREETS, and Immersive Theatrical Tour in DTLA centering on women’s survival and pursuit of justice, the coming World Premiere of THE JOY RIDE, a multi-disciplinary show performed out of a vintage convertible, by a cohesive, world-class ensemble that delivers a piercing message, embracing joy as an act of political warfare. We are currently in pre-production for the World Premiere of THE JOY RIDE.
We want artists and audiences alike to be transformed, uplifted, and inspired by our shows. Audiences see themselves in the characters we portray and artists experience healing by embodying these characters that go on a journey to find their freedom.
We are driven by the vision of a world that treats women with respect and honor.
It is of utmost importance to us to support the voices we don’t usually hear and set the record straight on the past and present to create a future that embodies justice.
That’s the concept of The Roots and Wings Project…the idea of going back to claim your past in order to remember who you are and where you came from to live your present truthfully and approach the future from a grounded, truthful place.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being a creative is when the vision comes to light. I find that in the beginning of a project that is brewing strongly in me, others may not yet be on board, and I have to carry it on my own in that phase. As the idea grows to manifestation, it is very exciting to see it all go from something I see and believe in, to something others see and believe in also. It’s beautiful to experience it all come together. It’s rewarding to find ways to make serious matters of humanity accessible to audiences by embodying unique environments and incorporating genius voices that approach the work with humor, wit and vibrancy. There is nothing like walking into the unknown with a committed group of talented artists and a shared vision.
As I have grown, being out of production has also come to feel rewarding. I have learned to understand the importance of taking time to live life and allow space to imagine and open new, personal chapters. That used to be hard for me, but I have learned how important that part of the process is. Seeds must be planted before there can be a harvest.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I got a distinct idea for THE JOY RIDE like a bolt of lightning, all at once. I had a powerful dream that reinforced the vision shortly after that. Almost immediately, a dear colleague nominated us for a small grant from artEquity. I knew it needed to be used to pilot THE JOY RIDE.
At this time there were no vaccines, everyone was in quarantine, I am a single mother caring for a little one in a pandemic, and all the theatres were completely shut down. We faced judgment, being told it was too dangerous and we were being irresponsible and other folks appalled that we were making work at a time like that when everyone was on freeze.
We’d done LUMINOUS STREETS just before then. That show was a very tall order with months in the streets of Downtown Los Angeles. Our crew was not only steeled for the toughest of circumstances, but we had built and earned trust for one another. Our show was outside and safe. We rehearsed on Zoom and only ran it once in person just before we shot the pilot. It was unbearably hot that day.
Against all odds, we did it and it went amazingly well. Had we not weathered the storm to create the pilot, we wouldn’t be where we are today with the bless-ed opportunity to build the show into a full-length World Premiere with the support of grants from LA County Creative Recovery and Community Partners and LA County Department of Arts and Culture.
Resilience is key to being an artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.therootsandwingsproject.com
- Instagram: _theraw_project
- Facebook: Facebook.com/TheRootsandWingsProject
- Youtube: @TheRootsNWings
Image Credits
Photo of Jesse Bliss by Arely Davis THE JOY RIDE stills from footage by Jamal Speakes LUMINOUS STREETS cast photo by Danzita Guerro MATRIARCH stills from footage by Ivan Cordeiro