Leaving a Trace

LEAVING A TRACE: MOAB THEATER PROJECT

Leaving A Trace: The Moab Theater Project is an immersive, site-specific, community-informed, musical theater project.

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Told with humor, heart, and a touch of desert magic, the story follows four playful park rangers who accidentally disrupt the fragile desert ecosystem, unleashing an unforgettable journey through deep time, slickrock potholes, desert town halls campfire tales, larger-than-life puppets, and ancient rock layers brought to life by spectacular Rock Witches. The cast, crew, and musicians are made up of over 70 Moab locals. 

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Looking for more information or have questions, reach out to the producer Ash Hanson at ash@publictransformation.org

Experience Leaving A Trace, the KZMU Radio Drama version, here on Spotify, https://open.spotify.com/episode/5oykGZUzjXbsCAKIY6VyLA?si=YmvG5N3tTTKvFBqYtPPB2w&nd=1&dlsi=660128a305dd4067

Listen to an interview with producer, Ash Hanson, done by KZMU, https://open.spotify.com/episode/4odnS1YRwfdyDKuFtFdod4?si=RQYgiTx2T7KhjtGhLHkQsg&nd=1&dlsi=9258d0b847c74216

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Ash Hanson (she/her) has over 20 years of experience working with rural communities to activate stories, connect neighbors, and exercise collective imagination. She is the Founder and Creative Executive Officer (CEO) of Department of Public Transformation, a nonprofit working at the intersection of creativity and civic life with rural communities across the country. She is the founder of PlaceBase Productions, a theater company that creates original, site-specific musicals celebrating small-town life and exploring imagined futures. She has been an embedded artist-in-residence with the City of Minneapolis and the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, integrating creative community engagement strategies into urban and rural planning processes. She was named an Obama Foundation Fellow and Bush Foundation Fellow for her creative civic leadership work with rural communities. She holds an MA in Applied Theatre with a focus on Rural Community Development from University of Manchester (UK). She is a Leo, an outdoor enthusiast, and a lover of grand adventures who believes deeply in the power of sharing stories on front porches, karaoke as an organizing strategy, engaging in radical acts of play, and the overuse of exclamation points!