THE AMERICAN MYTH CENTER PRESENTS
LEAH & THE RABBIT
AS PART OF THE CITY OF ASHEVILLE’S ART IN THE HEART
LEAH & THE RABBIT: A 30 minute piece of puppetry originally created by Mikayla Wilson for the Juneteenth program at the Vance Birthplace Historical Site, Leah & the Rabbit is making a journey to Downtown Asheville where the Vance Monument once stood as part of the City of Asheville’s Art in the Heart program, in partnership with Buncombe County.
Mikayla is hard at work with a new ensemble composed of local Black artists on the next version of this beautiful piece of puppetry. Ms. Wilson says, “The show talks about the forgotten stories of the enslaved people owned by the Vance family. Leah Erwin is one of twenty-seven known enslaved people that were owned by and lived with the Vance family. Leah’s story is paired with the tales of Br’er Rabbit, a popular folk story character that was passed down by enslaved people but appropriated by white storytellers with racial bias. Many Black people were brought to Asheville for cheap or enslaved labor to support the tourist industry in the antebellum period. Now, Black people must compete with systems that favor the wealthy or privileged. This story is meant to question the people who are being removed from Asheville and who can afford to stay.” AMC Curator Aaron Snook says, “We couldn’t be more excited that this new American Myth has a chance to grow and find new audiences.
FREE FOR ALL
Leah & the Rabbit is created and directed by Mikayla Wilson with puppets created by Mikayla Wilson and Aaron Snook featuring Mikayla Wilson, Nicole LaRue, and Sherly Moore as puppeteers and Stephanie Hickling Beckman as the voice of Leah.
AMC INFO: The AMC’s mission is to curate stories to spark necessary conversation within our community. Upon reflecting on the AMC, founder Aaron Snook says, “While our mission stays the same, we continue to evolve in how we achieve that goal. This year’s initiatives, Leah & the Rabbit and A Different Myth (our new play development collaboration with Different Strokes) continue our journey in discovering how we can best serve our beloved community.”