Ryan Hope Travis spent much of 2013 standing on the streets of Syracuse, waiting to hear stories. The actor, director, musician and professor interviewed 17 African American fathers, giving an often underrepresented community a platform to share their stories. He then turned their stories into a one man show called “A Shout in Salty Water,” which debuted at the Community Folk Arts center on Dec. 12 and closed on Dec. 14.

He paid each person he spoke with $25 for a few minutes of their time and a chance to give them a platform. He has plans to develop a script and produce a full play based on the show, which he describes as one of his greatest works of art.

The Daily Orange spoke with Travis about the process of creating his one-man show.

The Daily Orange: How is the show structured? 

Ryan Hope Travis: The play uses the device called a play within a play. So, as an audience member, you see Ryan, the artist developing the play and grappling with telling these men’s stories. I go through moments of developing (physicality), vocalization, connecting with the director in an attempt to tell the story in the most honest way and even communicating with the Post Standard; so really the play is about my journey developing this story.

The D.O.: What was the interviewing process like?

R.H.T.: I would walk through the community and if I saw a guy that was African American and he looked like he came from a certain income bracket, I would approach him and say, “Hey, can I ask you a weird question? Are you a dad?” When he’d say yes, I’d say, “I’m working on a play and I have $25 that I can compensate you for your time with. I just really want to hear your story.” I got a wide range of men; some homeless, some formerly incarcerated, some factory workers, a former professor, Ph.D., a number of men who are low income.

The D.O.: How did you decide the play’s name?

R.H.T.: Most of the interviews took place on Salina Street in the heart of downtown. Salina, if you know the dictionary definition of it, is a salt spring. And a ring-shout in the African tradition is what our ancestor did in the United States. For me, a Shout in Salty Water is the men calling, as if they’re underwater. The overwhelming experience that I had is these men wanted to be heard, and it was like they were screaming with all of their might, but nobody could hear them.

The D.O,: What was one of the most interesting stories that you heard? 

R.H.T.: Darnell Lee III: He was 31 years old, he has four kids that he acknowledges, but he has 16 more. So 20 kids that he knows of. He is looking for employment and he was so eloquent in his own way. He grew up on the streets. His mom is serving a life sentence at Bedford Correctional Facility; his dad was a mechanic, but, according to Darnell, he was also a gigolo. He was on his own since he was 9 and he was living on the streets at 10, but he felt indebted to Syracuse University because they gave him Christmas presents growing up as a kid. So whenever he finds himself in a low point, he pushes himself to be successful because he feels like he wants to pay the university back.

The D.O.: What do you want people to take away from the play?

R.H.T.: I really just didn’t want to be in the way. The whole time, I was trying to move aside and let the audience hear the story like I heard it — like they were reading a transcription. Whenever you hear unfiltered stories like this, we actually begin to ask ourselves why situations like this exist and then, solutions can be made, while honoring (the men’s) humanity.

Published on January 21, 2014 at 11:24 pm

Contact Ibet: ieinyang@syr.edu