Connecting Stories (Looking for Lilith/Actors Theatre of Louisville)

BECAUSE YOU WERE, I AM Conceived and Directed by Looking for Lilith Theatre Company Creative Team Review by Jeanne-Marie Rogers Entire contents are copyright © 2026 Jeanne-Marie Rogers. All rights reserved.

Looking for Lilith, a woman-led theatre company that seeks to lift up unheard voices, presented “Because You Were, I Am” as a culmination of The Ancestors Project, a series of workshops that began in 2021 as a way to help diverse communities share their personal history through the arts. Part of the Storytelling Revolution Festival, produced by Actors Theatre of Louisville and Louisville Fringe Festival, this “ongoing storytelling adventure” combines dramatized narration, music and interactive elements as a way of connecting stories of the past to our present.

Audience members entering the Victor Jory Theatre are invited by members of the cast to take a strip of fabric and write the name of an ancestor – someone who may or may not be related to you, who informs your life. The curtain speech and introductory video give the background of The Ancestors Project, describing the process of collecting the stories that are featured in the presentation. The action takes place at various locations around the theatre space, with the audience invited to follow from one area to another.

The director’s note states that this project is “not a play, exactly.” Personal stories are spoken aloud as ensemble members act them out in tableau-like scenes. The actors make remarkable use of their physicality and facial expressions to portray blushing brides, eager lovers, excited children, abusive parents and more. Morgan M. Younge stands out in the strong cast and often embodies the shared narrative as it moves from scene to scene. Sung and spoken refrains, along with subtle music cues created and performed by Erin Fitzgerald, effectively unify the action. To indicate that the storytelling continues, the evening concludes by inviting audience members to share memories of their ancestors, which the ensemble then dramatizes in improv style.

Although not “exactly” a play, this work captures the lived experience of families and communities in a powerful way. Performing it in the “ancestral home” of Louisville’s theatre scene adds another layer of significance.

Devising Team: Shannon Woolley Allison, Tiera Bowman, Sara G. B. Canary, Ebony Jordan, Jennifer Thalman Kepler, Karole Spangler, Morgan M. Younge

Additional Cast Members: Dawn Campbell and Jessica Sharpenstein

Because You Were, I Am: An Interactive Journey into The Ancestors Project Looking for Lilith Theatre Company

A part of Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Storytelling Revolution Festival

316 W. Main St., Louisville KY 40202

April 4, 2026 7:00 PM

https://www.actorstheatre.org