Roots and River Productions grew from the small seed of an idea. Founding Producer Azure D. Osborne-Lee moved to New York City in 2009, and experienced firsthand how difficult it can be for an emerging artist, especially a Black artist, to make headway in the theatre. And so, out of a desire to foster artistic community and create opportunities for queer and trans artists of color, Roots and River Productions was born.

Roots & River’s mission is to support and produce the creative work of Black queer and/or trans artists. The company is an artistic home for artists residing in the New York City metropolitan area. Roots & River serves as an incubator for new work, a site of artistic exploration, and a catalyst for societal change.

When the company was first founded in 2012, its primary programming consisted of the Roots & River Emerging Artist Mentorship Program and a portable, sustainable model for creating new work, simply called the Voicebox Workshops. After the first two cohorts of mentees graduated, the Emerging Artist Mentorship Program was retired.

From there Roots & River pivoted to primarily producing interdisciplinary and theatrical works by queer and trans Black artists. When Covid-19 hit, Roots & River began focusing on providing artistic, material, and spiritual support to Black queer and/or trans and/or disabled artists residing in New York City and beyond. We are deeply invested in making sure that our members survive this ongoing pandemic and time of civil unrest.

The Voicebox Workshops are still available upon request.

Roots and River Productions is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a proud member of Materials for the Arts, Indie Theater Fund, The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York, and has been the recipient of a Brooklyn Arts Council 2012 Community Arts Fund Grant, a grant from the Edie Windsor Fund for Old Lesbians under the aegis of Open Meadows Foundation, and support from IndieSpace.