The Arts Academy of Sedona(AAS) and The Carpetbag Brigade Physical Theater Company (CBPTC) present: The Road to Damascus — A Transformative Solo Performance by Kathy Randels
Sedona, AZ: The Arts Academy of Sedona and The Carpetbag Brigade proudly presents The Road to Damascus (As Told by Grandmother to Little Red), written and performed by Kathy Randels and directed and co-created with Odile Del Giudice, on Friday, March 6 at 7:00 PM at the United Methodist Church (The New Room), 110 Indian Cliffs Road, Sedona, AZ.
A deeply personal and politically resonant work, The Road to Damascus weaves together storytelling, faith, and lived experience to examine crime and punishment, harm and healing, and the possibility of transformation.
The piece draws from Randels’ upbringing as the daughter and granddaughter of Southern Baptist preachers; her 29 years teaching theater to and learning from currently and formerly incarcerated women at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women (LCIW); a decade of dialogue and action with St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church and its Center for Faith + Action around criminal legal system reform; and Del Giudice’s extensive work addressing collective trauma.
The project began as a prayer for the release of Gloria “Mama Glo” Williams, a beloved member of the LCIW Drama Club who served 51 years—the longest sentence at LCIW. In 2019, she was pardoned by the Louisiana Board of Pardons, sparking a statewide “Free Mama Glo” campaign led by PDMNOLA in partnership with organizations including The Graduates, VOTE, Kumbuka African Dance and Drum Collective, The Washitaw Nation, ArtSpot Productions, and St. Charles Ave. Baptist Church and its Center for Faith + Action. After years of advocacy, Governor John Bel Edwards approved her release on January 25, 2022.
In The Road to Damascus, an incarcerated Grandmother recounts Saul’s biblical conversion to her granddaughter during prison visits, illuminating the persecutorial systems shaping their lives. Blending the story of Saul/Paul with the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood, Grandmother introduces the Wolf and the Huntsman—figures whose roles as predator or savior remain unsettlingly ambiguous. Her prison guard, named Saul, becomes the Huntsman in the tale she spins.
Through this layered storytelling, the performance invites audiences to examine the perpetrator/victim/savior dynamic within our justice system, our faith traditions, and ourselves.
At a time when Christianity is increasingly polarized by political forces, The Road to Damascus calls on Christ’s deepest teachings to challenge us: What roles have we each played in systems of harm? Where are we called toward accountability, compassion, and healing?
Audiences are invited to witness this modern “Damascus experience”—and perhaps to share their own.
The Road to Damascus takes place at Sedona United Methodist Church’s New Room on Friday, March 6, at 7 pm. Tickets: General Admission: $35 in advance, $45 at the door. To purchase tickets, please go to: https://www.ticketleap.events/tickets/arts-academy-of-sedona/the-road-to-damascus or call (860)705-9711. For more information, go to http://www.carpetbagbrigade.com
Arts Academy of Sedona is an educational and cultural community center committed to innovating and creating art in all forms. We are dedicated professional artists who collaborate across the artistic disciplines to ensure all underserved people are represented. We provide a nurturing and learning environment so that all people who walk through the doors excel with their own personal goals. In all its artistic endeavors, our mission is to build on its great people, its commitment to diversity and inclusion, visionary excellence, and its forward-thinking programs that breathe fresh ideas into our Sedona community.
The Carpetbag Brigade is an integrative cultural force with a mission to present the performing arts in a diverse array of venues and environments, and increase the quality, scope, and impact of live performance culture through performance training, community outreach, and aesthetic presentation. Our work provides a platform for people of different cultural backgrounds to share, create, express, and reflect on common experiences. By utilizing performing arts and its pedagogy as a tool to transcend language, class, and environmental background, we aspire to evolve the role of performance culture and ensemble practice as a fundamental aspect of a healthy society.