Rooted: The Greensburg Odyssey

On May 4, 2007, the small town of Greensburg, Kansas was almost completely destroyed by a massive tornado. Following the tornado, the people of Greensburg determined to rebuild their town as a model sustainable community. Their journey to transform a catastrophe into an exemplary achievement to the world is the stuff of legend.

The William Inge Center for the Arts has joined forces with Cornerstone Theater Company and the 5.4.7 Arts Center of Greensburg, Kansas, to help the people of Greensburg tell their incredible story in Rooted: The Greensburg Odyssey.

Denver Skye Vaughn, an alumni of Cornerstone’s Institute Summer Residency in Fowler, California, will be performing in Rooted: The Greensburg Odyssey alongside 17 Greensburg residents on Saturday, May 5th @ 7 P.M. at the Greensburg First United Methodist Church. Cornerstone’s Associate Artistic Director , Laurie Woolery, is directing the piece. This concert performance marks the 5th anniversary of the tornado that destroyed 95% of the town. Greensburg has since rebuilt itself as a green community and it has set the model for how a town can revision itself — taking the pioneer spirit of its ancestors and early settlers. The residents have envisioned a future that takes into consideration their children and grandchildren by switching to sustainable energy sources.

Cornerstone has been collaborating with the William Inge Center for the Arts and Greensburg’s 5.4.7. Arts Center for over the last 15 months. Kansas playwright Marcia Cebulska participated in Cornerstone-style story circles with residents, policy makers, and civic leaders to create this world premiere play using The Odyssey as her vehicle. Stories kept echoing back to themes of home: What is home? Is it the buildings, the street signs or is it the people? This inspired Marcia to use The Odyssey as a source text as the Greensburgians ventured on a five-year journey to reach, rebuild, and find home.