RECIPE SHARED
Recipe Shared is a digital ‘docu-memory’ series inspired by the real-life interviews of seniors living in Denver’s eastside neighborhoods. Each story is grounded in the inquiry, “What’s your recipe for community ?” The filmed shorts combine interview transcripts, audio recordings, historical research, satire, movement, dance, and theatre to honor neighborhood histories through the personal stories of its residents.
To create Recipe Shared, Artibus met with seniors (through digital platforms) particularly isolated by Covid-19 to conduct interviews and offer creative companionship. The project was intended to be a live theatrical performance and was pivoted to film during COVID restrictions.
Core Cooks: Buba Basishvili, James Brunt, Nicole Dietze, Meghan Frank, Lynde Rosario
Video Chef: Mary Grace Legg
Collaborators: Soul Stories, Alicia T Smith-Young, Franklin Cruz, Adrienne Martin-Fullwood, Briannah Hill (they/them), and Dane Torbenson.
Additional Casting: IDEA Stages
Recipe Shared includes stories, audio recordings and transcripts from interviews with Ms. Versa Williams and Ms. Hazel Whitsett of Northeast Park Hill, Denver. We thank them for their generosity and collaboration.
Thanks to everyone interviewed, including Loretta V. Smith, Jewel Gaskin, Harold Newman, Carlos Castañeda, James Roy III, Beverly Grant, Debora Montoya, Frank Smith, Cherie Shaw-Robinson, Jim Cronin, David Cronin, and Andrew Lefkowits.
This project is dedicated to the memory of Frank Smith, who passed away from COVID in January of 2021.
CAST: James Brunt, Fronzo D. Gilkey, Kenyan James Bernard, James Thompson, Alex Romberg, Aaron Vieyra, Jeannene Bragg, Brianna Angela Sanchez Sisneros, Nicole Dietze, Roslyn Washington, Camryn Nailah, Tiya Trent, Zamira Webster, Daveon Webster, Niema Cruz Davis, Lisa Engelken, Elias Garcia, Kid Astronaut, Dane Torbenson, Alicia T Smith-Young, Franklin Cruz, Adrienne Martin-Fullwood, Alicia T Smith-Young, Buba Basishvili, Meghan Frank.
RECIPE SHARED worked in partnership with Megan Williams and Atria Senior Living Center to conduct group and individual online sessions through zoom with seniors and caretakers at their facility, which culminated in a final private Covid-safe outdoor show for each participating senior. We would like to thank Denver Metro Community Impact for their time and information. Thanks are also to Darcie Ezell, Natacha Dominique and the Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being for granting us access to their gardens and for introducing us to neighbors for interviews. Special thanks to Jeff Fard and Brother Jeff’s Cultural Center, Emancipation Theater Company, Mark Pergola and the Theatricians for supporting this creative endeavor by offering resources, space, encouragement and guidance along the way.
THE PROCESS
The CORE TEAM for RECIPE SHARED met every week for six months to create the project.
(James Brunt, Lynde Rosario, Nicole Dietze, Buba Basishvili, Meghan Frank)
Art-pal (one-on-one) online weekly exchanges with artists and seniors. Pictured is a “Create a Story” from an image session.
“What does Care look like?” - Artibus explored the theme of care in online workshops for Atria Senior Living Staff and Caretakers durring the months of isolated care due to Covid.
Soul Stories Online live-stream “RECIPE for Community: Stories From Denver's Past” facilitated by Franklin Cruz with Community elders Carlos Castañeda, Beverly Grant, and Debora Montoya.
COVID-CREATIVE individual, interactive performances for at Atria Senior Living.
Artibus story circle/Recipe poem workshops lead by Nicholle Harris and James Brunt for the Center of African American Health “Aging Mastery” Co-hort.
Interview with Ms. Hazel Whitsett of Northeast Park Hill, who ran the Northeast Women’s Center for many years, touching hundreds of young lives for almost 20 years.
Core Cooks conducted neighborhood interviews that became inspiration for the the final culminating performance project. The question often started, “What is your Recipe for Community”?
RECIPE SHARED scripts were crafted by the core cooks and filming took place over one month in May of 2021. Mary Grace Legg was the Video Chef.
RECIPE SHARED is supported in part by a grant from Arts in Society and the RiNo Social Impact Fund.
