ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Beth Wood

After appearing on the CPT stage since 2002, Beth joined the CPT staff in 2007. A director, actress, administrator, designer, educator and theatre technician, she holds a BA in Communications and Theatre from John Carroll University. In July 2016, Beth was awarded a Theatre Communications Group Leadership U[niversity] Continuing Ed grant allowing her to travel to theatres throughout the country during the 16/17 season to research new play development models. As a director of adventurous scripted work, Beth’s CPT directing credits include BOOM by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb (third U.S. production), Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them by Christopher Durang (second U.S. production), FEVER/DREAM by Sheila Callaghan, The SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris at Playhouse Square (2011, 2014), The Loush Sisters Making the Yuletide Gay at Playhouse Square, Antebellum by Robert O’Hara (second U.S. production), There Is a Happiness That Morning Is by Mickle Maher, The Loush Sisters DO the Nutcracker, the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of in a word by Lauren Yee, The Loush Sisters Love Dick’ns: Great Expectations and Lines in the Dust by Nikkole Salter. In addition to her work with scripted productions, Beth co-created The Loush Sisters for Playhouse Square in 2011 and CPT in 2013 and 2015. This season, Beth will be co-leading a new holiday show with Raymond Bobgan (Light the Lights ‘Ole Moses CLE! a wild holiday romp), and directing Robert O’Hara’s Barbecue. CPT acting credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mrs. Bob Cratchet’s Wild Christmas Binge, A Bright Room Called Day, Fefu and Her Friends, The Rocky Horror Show, Our Town, Pulp, Matt & Ben, Anna Bella Eema (co-production with Theater Ninjas), Open Mind Firmament, Don’t Call Me Fat, Akarui, Standing on Ceremony, Earth Plays, The Loush Sisters DO the Nutcracker, The Loush Sisters Love Dick’ns: Great Expectations and Mr. Burns – A Post-Electric Play. A former Actor-Teacher for Great Lakes Theater, Beth has taught a variety of theatre and acting courses throughout Northeast Ohio, and has served as the technical director for John Carroll University, Lakeland Theatre and Stagecrafters.

When I realized what was actually happening, I threw my script across the living room because I was so mad.

And I was mad for a good 3 minutes. But I couldn’t help but pick up the script to find out what happened next. Barbecue seems like a funny and absurd discussion of addiction, but in fact, it’s talking about so much more – how we see each other, how we see issues like addiction and poverty, and how we, as a society, assign those things to certain groups of people because we don’t think it’s our problem.

On the surface, this play appears to be about an intervention – four siblings coming together (who have their own addiction issues and substance abuse problems) to help their youngest sister Barbara, who’s a hot mess.

But then something happens. The lights go black. The cast changes. The white family we came to know is now being played by an African-American cast. And scene by scene, the casts switch back and forth, the trajectory of the play barreling forward.

We see fictional shows like Shameless gain major popularity – and the struggle of that family is real. Yes, it’s funny, but it’s also incredibly tragic. We laugh at this family breaking their backs to make ends meet while their father is destroying their lives inch-by-inch because of his addictions. But in the same breath, as much as they want to get rid of him, they can’t. They love him. And that’s family. With this family in Barbecue, as much as they battle to like each other most of the time, it ultimately comes back to the fact that they love each other – even in all their dysfunction.

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“…Well, how many black directors do you know?”

An interview with Robert O’Hara (courtesy of Playwrights Horizons)