What happens when cowboy culture collides with the divine mischief of an Afro-Brazilian trickster? Laurelann Porter’s upcoming multimedia performance Sympathy for Exú may just have the answer.
In a town known for its Western roots and growing creative community, the play stands out for its unflinching exploration of cross-cultural entanglements. Porter’s performance asks us to sit in the in-between: between Arizona and Bahia, between myth and reality, between self and other. “It’s not about escapism,” she says. “It’s about seeing. And sometimes what we see at the crossroads changes us.”
A story that crosses borders
More than a performance, Sympathy for Exú is a ritual offering, a storytelling encounter, and a cultural bridge. Porter’s love song to Bahia doubles as a love letter to Prescott’s evolving arts scene, one willing to question its own frontier mythology. “Prescott has its own version of paradise,” Porter reflects. “But like Bahia, it’s not paradise for everyone. I want people to reflect on the spaces they move through, and who those spaces are truly for.”
At the intersection of music, myth, and migration, the play brings that crossroads to Arizona’s high desert. And, as any trickster might whisper, the game is never what you think it is.
Staged at The Hazeltine in downtown Prescott June 6 and 7, this bold, music-infused piece reimagines The Rolling Stones’ iconic “Sympathy for the Devil” through a global, syncretic lens.
Directed, written, and performed by Porter, an Arizona native and fifth-generation desert-dweller turned ethnographic storyteller, Sympathy for Exú is part performance, part critical self-inquiry. It draws from her time living in Bahia, Brazil, where she explored the complicated relationship between tourism, local culture and privilege through the lens of Exú (pronounced “eh-shoo”), a Yoruba trickster deity often misunderstood in Western interpretations as a devil figure.
“Exú reveals deeper truths through lies,” Porter explains. “He’s the master of contradiction, of both/and, not either/or.” The show invites audiences to unpack binary thinking — good versus evil, tourist versus local, cowboy versus trickster — and instead sit with discomfort, humor and reflection.
Co-created with her creative partner and musician, who will perform live onstage, the piece weaves personal storytelling, critical autoethnography, and live music. Porter’s voice and lyrics, inspired by her travels and the rhythms of Afro-Brazilian tradition, ground the work in an atmosphere that is at once intimate and expansive.
The performances will also include post-show discussions, inviting audiences deeper into its themes. Tickets range from $35-45, available at carpetbagbrigade.weebly.com.
A workshop on writing the blues
On June 8 at 10am Porter will lead a four-hour companion workshop titled Writing the Blues in the Hazeltine gallery space. Rooted in reflexive writing, music and guided creative practice, the workshop invites participants to explore their own “blues” through writing and song.
The first half will apply techniques from critical self-reflection and creative grieving. The second half teaches basic blues-song structure and vocal performance. The workshop is $50 for early birds (through May 20) or $65 regular admission.
Participants are encouraged to bring fruit, light snacks and an openness to deep self-inquiry.
