picture from www.hamnertheater.com
The Hamner Theater announces the opening of Daughters of the Appalachians, by Linda Goodman, on stage Wednesday, April 30 through Sunday, May 10. This compelling play portrays the lives of six unique women, characters drawn from insights and stories culled from Goodman’s family and the community of her southwestern Virginia childhood mountain roots, each offering a glimpse of the Appalachian culture that is fast fading away.
The cast features Kate Adamson, Chris Courtenay, Rose Harper, Kerry Moran, Holly Schumann and Melissa Wender, and is directed by Hamner Theater Co-Artistic Director, Boomie Pedersen.
Daughters of the Appalachians was published by Overmountain Press in 1999 and adapted into a play in 2006. It has been performed to standing ovations & sold-out crowds around the country.
Writer & story-teller Linda Goodman was born in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, where she learned the art of story telling from her father, a former coal miner (and master yarn-spinner). She has performed and taught in storytelling workshops and festivals throughout New England and the South for more than 20 years, entertaining audiences with her original stories, traditional tales and monologues. Her works are best known for their Southern Appalachian flavor.
Says Goodman, “I was born into a culture that is fading away. I feel an obligation to keep that culture alive in my stories. ” She aims “to people my stories with Southern Appalachian characters of intelligence & integrity. This country has a stereotype of a Southerner who is slow & unintelligent. My stories seek to dispel that sterotype.”
Performances of Daughters of the Appalachians will take place Thu. – Sat. at 7:30pm, and Sun. at 2pm from April 30 – May 10. There will be a Preview Wednesday, April 29 at 7:30pm. Opening Night performance, Thursday, April 30, will be followed by a champagne reception. Talk-back sessions will be held after both Friday performances. The performance on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10, will be followed by tea & cookies. All tickets for all shows are Pay-what-you-will. Reservations at (434)361-1999. Visit www.thehamnertheater.com for more information.
About the Hamner Theater: The Hamner Theater, a non-profit project of the Rockfish Valley Community Center in Nelson County, receives funding from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Donovan Foundation, the Perry Foundation and anonymous donors to support its mission of bringing professional theater to Nelson County.
Summary:
What: Daughters of the Appalachians, by Linda Goodman
Where: Hamner Theater, 190 Rockfish School Lane, between Afton and Nellysford, VA
Show Times: Thursday – Saturday, April 30 – May 2 & May 7 – May 9 at 7:30pm, Sun., May 3 & 10 at 2pm.
Preview: Wed., April 29, Free
Special shows: Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 10 performance followed by tea & cookies
Talkbacks will follow Friday performances, May 1 & 8.
Tickets: Donation, Pay what you will
Reservations/Information: 434.361.1999 or www.hamnertheater.com
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“offering a glimpse of the Appalachian culture that is fast fading away.”
Zero Comments. QED.
Otter, you may be able to help me with this one. I remember watching a documentary on English and American dialects waay back in the day. Some fairly famous man was narrator. Do you, by chance, know what I’m talking about?
Also, heard in same class (History of the English Language…humoursly abbreviated HEL) that Appalachian-speaking peoples have a similar if not same dialect as what may have been in use during the life of Shakespeare? Have a feeling it was an exaggeration…
there are no doubt better-qualified persons on this site to give you an answer.
there was a PBS series but don’t remember the name. Alastair Cooke probably did one. you might try Edwin Newman, William Safire, Richard Mitchell or if it was dialect/linguistics that Pinker chap.
There are some weird VA dialects. A lot of HOOSE for HOUSE and BUYRD for BIRD. The Watermen on the Eastern Shore, and Chincoteague/Asateague/etc. speak some pretty archaic stuff. Couple pockets of Appalachia have totally effed-up pronunciations and weird-ass sentence-construction. There are two exquisitely elegant dialects I’ve come across in VA but not sure where they originate. Broad A and a lovely singing lilt.
there’s an interesting master’s thesis (1924? 1926?) in UVA library called “The mountain people of Virginia: Their nature and their needs” (Freeman Daniels) that talks a little about this with especial reference to Nelson and Albemarle counties, though no doubt much more thorough work of a higher scholarly level exists with a more broad scope.
Thank you! I think it was the one with Alastair Cooke… A shame about places like Appalachia. We’re our own worst enemies…
I know there was “Do You Speak American?”
http://www.pbs.org/speak/about/
Maybe “The Story of English”?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0198245/
The first one isn’t really waaay back in the day though. Although it is very interesting for my nerdy self.
And you’re right. There are some places in Appalachia that basically have been so isolated from “the real world” that they sound as if they were born in the UK. (Check out the guy showing Mike Rowe how to run the mucker in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy_xOQhDZig He even asks him if he’s sure he’s not Irish.)