This page features previous and upcoming collaborations between The Appalachia Cultural Arts Center and community groups, theatrical and otherwise.
| 2007: | The Appalachian Actors' Regional Theatre Production "Cumberland Vendetta" by Julie Hensley
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| 1999: | The Round Table Players Productions:
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| The Coalfield Progress | In the 1890s, the Blue Ridge Mountains were still filled with conflicts that originated with the Civil War. Family feuds lingered and exploded long after the War Between the States ended. That era serves as the backdrop for John Fox Jr.’s 1893 novella, “A Cumberland Vendetta.” On Sunday, Aug. 19 at 3 p.m., Director/Playwright Julie Hensley and a volunteer cast of more than two dozen local residents bring Hensley’s adaptation of Fox’s story to the Appalachia Cultural Arts Center stage on Main Street. Published Wednesday, August 15, 2007 For the full article go to: Coalfield.com |
| Southwest Virginia troupe debuts ‘Cumberland Vendetta’ By Jessica Fischer It’s been mere months since the debut of the Appalachian Actors Regional Theatre, but already the all-volunteer troupe has set some lofty goals for itself. AART began life in 2005 as the Mountain Empire Community Theatre, but its members decided to sever ties with the college earlier this year in an effort to gain a little more creative control over their productions and to be able to take their shows on the road. “The thing we’re most excited about is children’s theatre,” said AART’s resident playwright, Julie Hensley. “Children’s theatre is often done with children playing all of the parts, but a lot of the responsibilities, like the producing, the directing, the choice of shows, ends up falling to adults. I don’t know what it is about this part of Southwest Virginia, but an amazing number of kids want to go into theatre, and I’d like to see us nurture that more than by just giving them acting parts.” Hensley said AART has plans to put on several small-scale shows and let its younger members take a more active role in the entire production process. But for now, the group is focused on their premiere production, which opened Aug. 19 and continues into September. “Cumberland Vendetta” is an original adaptation of a John Fox Jr. novella. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the 1890s, the play, crafted by Hensley, opens just as the long-simmering feud between the Stetson and Lewallan families is about to reignite. Rufe Stetson, played by Clyde Quillen of Pound, Va., has just returned to the Cumberland to avenge the death of his brother, killed by Old Jasper Lewallan (James Dalton Jr. of Big Stone Gap) years before. Rufe’s nephew, Rome Stetson (Wesley Polly of Big Stone Gap) is now a young man, torn between the gentlemanly ways he’s been taught by his Uncle Gabe (Harry Wisebird of Appalachia, Va.) and the taunting of the vicious Jasper Lewallan (Jimmy Brown of Coeburn, Va.), Old Jasper’s son. Adding to the chaos is the return of Marthy Lewallan (Katie Griffith of Big Stone Gap), who has been living with her aunt in the city. Sparks fly between Marthy and Rome, neither of whom know the other’s family connections. It wasn’t until a recent rehearsal, when Hensley was watching 10-year-old Austin Falin in his role as the troubled Isom Stetson, that she realized just how challenging a play she had created. “Isom has something wrong with him — probably neurological — and he talks and carries on in the midst of these fits. They called it ‘being touched,’” she said. “There’s a scene where he’s having one of these fits on stage, and he’s also angry. He hates the people who have made fun of him. So Austin is heavily involved in one of the most climactic parts of the show. He has to be having this fit, he has to get angry and then act like he’s just emotionally dead, and I’m asking this of a 10-year-old. But he has done a beautiful job of rising to the occasion.” He gets it honest. Falin’s mother plays the role of June in this year’s “Trail of the Lonesome Pine,” also based on a John Fox Jr. book, and Falin himself has held some small roles in the production. It was Hensley’s involvement in last year’s “Trail” that peaked her interest in Fox’s other literature, but make no mistake: “Cumberland Vendetta” is no “Trail” copycat, she said. It’s also as historically accurate as she could make it, thanks in part to Dr. Gilmer Blackburn, provost and senior vice-chancellor at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Blackburn served as the play’s historical consultant. “I really think it’s worth someone’s time and money to come, especially if they have any interest in history and the dynamics of the area,” Hensley said. “We’ve strived to make it something that really helps capture what these people lived because it’s so different from what we have now.” Show times are 3 p.m., Aug. 26, Sept. 9 and 23; and 7 p.m., Sept. 8 and 22. Tickets are $8 in advance and can be purchased at The Post in Big Stone Gap, Va., and at Town Hall in Appalachia, Va. When purchased at the door, tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and senior adults older than 55. A special performance at the Country Cabin in Norton, Va., will be held at 3 p.m., Sept. 16. Advance tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the Country Cabin. Purchased at the door, tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors older than 55. Hensley said AART has a couple of other productions in the works for later this fall, although the troupe is willing to take “Cumberland Vendetta” on the road and welcomes inquiries from schools and other groups. For more information about “Cumberland Vendetta” or to find out more about AART, e-mail Hensley at julieh@digitaldog.com or visit the troupe’s MySpace page at myspace.com/aartheatre. |
| Inside Appalachia [NPR Radio] |
| "Cumberland Vendetta" & playwright/director Julie Hensley Were featured on the Sunday, September 2nd edition of Inside Appalachia [Hosted by Beth Vorhees] West Virginia Public Broadcasting Radio's weekly news magazine devoted to the southern Appalachian region; and bringing a new perspective to its issues, interests, culture, and history. |