Scenic Roots

"Scenic Roots" offers conversations that matter in the heart of Chattanooga and the Tennessee Valley.From the mountains to the river, our conversations are rooted deep within every corner of our community - reflecting who we are, who we were and who we can become.We engage with the news that affects our community, behind and beyond the headlines. We build bridges that span from creators and innovators to storytellers and the outdoors. We focus on our challenges as many communities in one - as we celebrate what inspires us. We resonate with countless voices - in words and spaces, sounds and songs.We are "Scenic Roots."Ray Bassett hosts and produces "Scenic Roots" at WUTC.

Hand-Turned Tales: “The Crankie Show” At Barking Legs

WUTC | By Ray Bassett

Published May 28, 2025 at 10:28 PM EDT

A close-up of the Crankie box for “Paranormal,” a story by Russell Jones.

Storytelling in a box was a handheld art form in Appalachia before electricity and the many screens that we watch today.

Think of a long scroll - illustrated, wound around two spools and loaded into a decorated box with a viewing window.

Then, turn the scroll - cranking the spools by hand while narrating the story unfolding inside the box - and what you have is a “Crankie.”

This weekend, “The Crankie Show: Hand-Turned Tales by Magical Thinkers” presents stories of eleven artists living with serious mental illness at Barking Legs Theater - Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2:30 PM - with their Crankie boxes on exhibit at The HART Gallery in June.

Peggy Douglas of Southern Exposure is the writer who collected the stories and wrote the monologues for “The Crankie Show.”

Frances McDonald of Mark Making is the show’s visual art director.