News Release

Photo: For photos of outdoor dramas, click on http://www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/media/

N.C. to offer 21 outdoor dramas in 2007

CHAPEL HILL – Daniel Boone, Henry Berry Lowrie and Virginia Dare will once again be portrayed in outdoor dramas across North Carolina this summer, as will some of Shakespeare’s most comical and tragic characters. Asheville and Wilkesboro, respectively, will debut new historical plays about Mary, Queen of Scots and NASCAR champion Junior Johnson.

The 21 dramas scheduled in North Carolina this summer and fall are listed below, alphabetically by town. For locator maps, Web sites of theater companies and information on outdoor dramas nationwide, visit the Web site of the Institute of Outdoor Drama at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, www.unc.edu/depts/outdoor/. For more information, call the institute at (919) 962-1328.

ASHEVILLE
The Montford Park Players, Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre, Montford Community Complex, 34 Pearson Drive, Asheville 28801, (828) 254-5146.

• “Cyrano de Bergerac,” Fridays-Sundays, July 20-Aug. 12. A master swordsman and poet hides behind the face of another man to pour out his heart to his unrequited love.

• “Much Ado About Nothing,” Fridays-Sundays, Sept. 7-30. While an evil man conspires to break up their wedding, engaged lovers act as matchmakers in this romantic comedy.

• “Romeo and Juliet,” Fridays-Sundays, June 15-July 8. Two families’ long-running hostilities lead to tragic consequences for star-crossed lovers.

• “The Signature,” Fridays-Sundays, Aug. 17-Sept. 2. Mary, Queen of Scots, is imprisoned by her brother, James, who usurps the throne in this new historical drama by William H. Logan of Hendersonville. Logan and the cast will share conversation with audience members after each show. 

BOONE
Southern Appalachian Historical Association Inc., P.O. Box 295, Boone 28607, (828) 264-2120.

“Horn in the West,” Tuesdays-Sundays, June 15-Aug. 11. In North Carolina’s southern Appalachians during the American Revolution, frontiersman Daniel Boone and his settlers struggle against British militia.

CHEROKEE
Cherokee Historical Association, Mountainside Theatre, Drama Road, Cherokee 28719, (828) 497-2111.

“Unto These Hills…A Retelling,” Mondays-Saturdays, June 8-Aug. 18. A new version of the old story premieres this summer, profiling the Eastern Band of the Cherokee from the arrival of Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto to their forced removal to Oklahoma on the tragic “trail of tears.”

HALIFAX
Eastern Stage Inc., 14511 Highway 903, Halifax 27839, (252) 583-2261.

“First for Freedom,” June 29-30 (Friday-Saturday); July 4-7 (Wednesday-Saturday). The drama traces events leading to the adoption on April 12, 1776, of the Halifax Resolves, which authorized North Carolina delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence from Great Britain. The unanimous vote by 83 state delegates at the Fourth Provincial Congress in Halifax was the first official action by a colony that called for independence.

MANTEO
Roanoke Island Historical Association, Waterside Theatre, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, 1401 National Park Drive, Manteo 27954, (800) 488-5012 or (252) 473-3414.

• “The Lost Colony,” Mondays-Saturdays, June 1-Aug. 20. The first English colony in the new world settled on North Carolina’s Outer Banks in 1587. But within three years, they had disappeared without a trace, and their fate has never been discovered. The play, crafted from what is known of their story, is the nation’s oldest outdoor drama, now in its 70th season.

• “Cinderella,” Tuesdays and Thursdays, June 21-Aug. 16. Face-painting and balloon-sculpting will accompany these productions for children of the classic fairy tale, told with music and dance.

• “South Pacific,” Sundays, July 22 and 29. Love blossoms between a young nurse and an older French plantation owner as World War II threatens to tear them apart.

PEMBROKE
Carolina Arts Network Inc., Adolph L. Dial Amphitheater, 638 Terry Sanford Road, Pembroke 28372, (910) 521-0835.

“Strike at the Wind,” Fridays-Sundays, July 7-Aug. 18. In the years after the Civil War, the exploits of Lumbee Indian outlaw Henry Berry Lowrie earned him a reputation as the American Robin Hood. His gang terrorized pro white-supremacy conservatives.

RALEIGH
African American Cultural Complex, 119 Sunnybrook Road, Raleigh 27606, (919) 250-9336.

“Amistad Saga: Reflections,” Thursdays-Sundays, July 19-29. A mutiny aboard a slave ship that marked the beginning of the end of slavery in the United States is brought to life through speeches, song and dance.

SNOW CAMP
Snow Camp Historical Drama Society Inc., Snow Camp Historic Site, 301 Drama Road, Snow Camp 27349, (800) 726-5115. The following two historical dramas alternate evenings for most of the summer at 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays:

• “The Sword of Peace,” June 28, 29, 30; July 12, 14, 20, 26, 28; Aug.3, 9, 11, 17. During the American Revolution, the Cane Creek Society of Friends defends its belief in non-violence.

• “Pathway to Freedom,” July 5, 6, 7, 13, 19, 21, 27; Aug. 2, 4, 10, 16, 18. Slavery opponents and free blacks help hundreds of escaped slaves flee north before the Civil War.

• “Jesus Christ Superstar,” Wednesdays, July 11-Aug. 15; Tuesday-Saturday, Aug 21-25. The rock opera is based on the political and personal struggles of Jesus and Judas Iscariot.

• “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” 8 p.m. Aug. 24-28. A school teacher and a thug compete for the hand of beautiful young woman in this adaptation of Washington Irving’s short story, set in the 1790s. The teacher disappears mysteriously amid ghost stories about a headless horseman.

• “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” children’s show, 10 a.m. Saturdays June 30-Aug. 18. An emperor commissions new clothes that will be invisible to anyone who is incompetent or stupid in this 1837 fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson.

VALDESE
Old Colony Players, Old Colony Amphitheatre, Church Street, Valdese 28690, (828) 874-0176.

“From This Day Forward,” July 6-Aug. 11, Fridays-Saturdays. The Waldenses, a religious sect that arose in southeast France in the 1100s, struggle to survive persecution in their homeland and journey to North Carolina, establishing a colony in 1893 at Valdese.

WILKESBORO
Wilkes Playmakers, Forest Edge Amphitheatre, Fort Hamby Park, 1534 S. Recreation Road, off U.S. 421 North, Wilkesboro 28697, (336) 838-7529.

“Tom Dooley: A Wilkes County Legend,” Tuesdays-Sundays, June 22-July 7. An 1868 Wilkes County love triangle results in the murder of one woman and subsequent hanging of Tom Dulah (pronounced “Dooley”). Legend has it that he confessed to the murder to protect his true love. The Kingston Trio spread the story in the 1950s and ’60s with their Grammy winning song “Tom Dooley.”

“Moonshine and Thunder: The Junior Johnson Story,” Thursdays-Sundays, Oct.18-28. Set in Wilkes County, once known as the moonshine capital of the world, this new drama profiles moonshiners of the North Carolina mountains in the 1930s and ’40s, the origins of NASCAR and the early life of racing legend Johnson, a Wilkes native. Opening weekend coincides with the Carolina in the Fall bluegrass festival in North Wilkesboro.

WILMINGTON
Shakespeare on the Green, 208 N. 17th St., Wilmington 28401, (910) 762-6393.

“As You Like It,” Fridays-Sundays, June 1-24. Characters in disguise get into humorous and complicated situations while falling in love.

News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589