TAPROOT’s ‘Freda’ takes children and adults on the hero’s journey

American mythologist Joseph Campbell may be best known for his simple, but profound, edict: “Follow your bliss.”

“If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you,” he wrote.

Campbell also helped popularize the idea of the hero’s journey, although the trek itself is centuries old. He posits that every hero – from Odysseus to Alice (in “Wonderland”) and from Buddha to Jesus Christ – goes on a pilgrimage that follows a similar arc. There’s the call, the refusal (or at least, reticence), aid from the supernatural, temptation, return and – finally – freedom.

Along the way, the hero (or heroine) learns something about himself (or herself). Those lessons are for all of us. TAPROOT’s “Freda” is a heroine’s journey told through movement, music, puppets and masks.

In the story, Freda’s mom is taken from her. “There are elements … that may be a little dark, but (they’re no) worse than ‘Brave,’ ‘Bambi’ and ‘Frozen,’” said actress and TAPROOT co-founder Brianna Susan Smith. “The darker elements encourage young audiences to be brave in the face of their fears (and recognize) that sometimes people intimidate us even though they have no real power over us.”

Smith and her team sought advice from the very people they intend to entertain: children. They’ve held workshops for children ages 4 to 10 to learn more about their imaginations. The pictures and ideas from those students served as source material.

During interactive story times at McColl Center for Art + Innovation and International House, Smith and team told the story of “Freda” and asked for suggestions.

“We leave the characters and environment purposefully vague and ask the students to draw what they think characters or settings look like,” Smith said. “When they’re finished, we … let them move how they think characters would move.”

And the creative team used what the kids came up with.

But the message is pure Joseph Campbell. The TAPROOT team knew the lesson they wanted to deliver: “We are not alone; we are not separate,” Smith said. “When we can celebrate the diversity and kinship of our neighbors, we begin the journey of seeing the people around us for their humanity.”

“Freda” marks the first time TAPROOT has created a piece for children. Smith and TAPROOT co-founder Camerin Watson challenged themselves to design a piece of theater that would be as entertaining for adults as it is for children. The show is just 45 minutes (the hero’s journey doesn’t have to be long), so it’s suited to short attention spans.

TAPROOT, which Smith and Watson founded in 2012 as a collaborative performance ensemble, doesn’t have a permanent home. But the group has staged productions at UpStage in NoDa (“Orpheus”) and at The Milestone and Atlanta Fringe Festival (“This Message Must Be Consumed”), among others.

This time, the group has set up shop at Studio 1212 in Elizabeth – a space often used for filming.

Another space the group is using these days is the McColl Center. TAPROOT is the first performing arts ensemble to be an artist-in-residence at McColl.

TAPROOT is tapping into visual arts and music for this piece. The group’s resident musicians, Advertisement, created an original score they’ll perform during each show. “Freda” has been a collaboration that spans genres and generations.

Another lesson in “Freda” that children may not pick up on: With TAPROOT, Smith and Watson are following their bliss. They’re on a hero’s journey of their own.

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 10:30 AM with the headline "TAPROOT’s ‘Freda’ takes children and adults on the hero’s journey."