Rooted
In this offbeat comedy, all it takes is two sisters and a treehouse to accidentally start a cult.
In the claustrophobic town of Millerville, Emery Harris lives alone in a treehouse named Mabel surrounded by a dozen or so plants she researches, names, and talks to.
Playwright
Director
Summary
Her overbearing sister Hazel is Emery’s only connection to reality, along with her YouTube channel where she documents her studies that have garnered several thousand followers. When her calm and quiet is disrupted by an entourage of devotees chanting and singing to her–their botanical, new-age messiah–she is forced to look down from the branches and face the outside world.
Press & Reviews:
“There’s a simplicity in her characters that mixes with a bit of magical realism.”
ROOTED featured in The Boston Globe: A tree grows on Clarendon Street| Terry Byrne
Laufer says, also praising the show’s director, Courtney O’Connor. “Courtney really understands this world. Some directors get your writing and you’re so lucky when they do.”
Playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer Featured Story Spotlight in METRMag| Kevin T. Baldwin
“Rooted validates that nature, theater, and human connection can be healing for the soul.”
New England Theater Mirror| Linda Chin
“Rooted is an intimately scaled, warm-hearted play.”
“It is an amazing Scenic Design created by the award-winning Janie E. Howland.”
Boston and Beyond| Susan Mulford
“Soothing and eclectic music by Dewey Dellay as well as streaming and transformative lighting by Karen Perlow provide a warm and peaceful vibe as Emery carefully handles the greenery surrounding her. Janie E. Howland’s meditative and functioning set at first sight provides an oasis from the real world.”
Sleepless Critic| Jeanne Denizard
“There are some ingenious moments featuring an imaginative use of lighting and sound. There is also some clever use of onstage “foliage trickery” which I won’t divulge, safe to say it all serves to make the relationships conveyed in the story all that more endearing.”
Production Cast
Production Photos
Production Crew
Scenic Design**
Costume Design
Lighting Design**
Composer/Co-Sound Design
Co-Sound Design
Production Stage Manager*
Assistant Stage Manager
Props Artisan
Wardrobe
Head Electrician
Production Sponsor
Mary and Doug WoodruffCast Sponsor
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