Interview with Bobby Bermea
What excites you about this production?
The script. Lo really knows her characters and how they speak, what makes them laugh and what brings them together. I feel like it’s way too rare for Black women to be presented on stage with so much warmth and humor, and where they 100% get each other’s back all the time. We have this preconception that people taking care of each other is not dramatic. You need conflict. And I would argue that in At the Root there is conflict — with men, with unfair expectations, with cancer, with the outside world. But the focus of the piece is on how Black women overcome these obstacles together. We don’t see a lot of that in any media, let alone theatre.
What are you most looking forward to the audience experiencing?
The easy answer is everything but if I have to pick one it’s the music. I think Lo is a wonderful songwriter with a unique neo-soul style all her own And the lyrics are really personal and heartfelt. The three leads all have especially rich, evocative voices besides the tremendous skill and precision they sing with.
How is the project different than others you have worked on?
Number one thing would be it’s all women, dealing with issues that impact women differently than they would men, and finding solutions that men don’t often utilize.
What do you find most fulfilling about the project?
The work of the actors and chorus. It’s always magical watching the process of words on a page being given life by artists, especially when they’re so gifted and generous. Watching Josie, Antoinette and Marilyn inhabit these different women has been a real treat.
