PEOPLE & 



PLACES 



THE LOST 

 COLONY 

 2003 SCHEDULE 



WHEN: Through Aug. 22, 

 8:30 p.m. nightly, except 

 Sundays and July 4 



PRODUCERS: 

 The Roanoke Island 

 Historical Association 



COST: $20 for producers 

 circle; $16 for adults; 

 $1 5 for senior adults; 

 and $8 for children under 

 12. Children's tickets are 

 half-price on Fridays 

 and Saturdays. 



WHERE: Waterside Theatre, 

 Fort Raleigh National 

 Historic Site, 

 U.S. 64/264, Manteo 



CONTACT: 866/468-7630 



READ ABOUT IT: 

 The Lost Colony: A Symphonic 

 Drama of American History by 

 Paul Green, edited by Paul 

 G. Avery, University of 

 North Carolina Press, 2001 . 

 Paperback, $12.95; 

 Roanoke Revisited. 

 The Story of the Lost Colony, 

 edited by lebame houston 

 and Barbara Hird. 

 Penny Book, 1997. 

 Paperback, $6, available at 

 www. thelostcolony. org. 



LEARN ABOUT IT: Go to 

 www.thelostcolony.org and 

 click on the Discovery 

 Center icon for educational 

 activities developed with a 

 grant from the Z. Smith 

 Reynolds Foundation. 



TOP: Tony Award-winner William Ivey Long designed elaborate 

 costumes for the long-running drama. 



Photo courtesy of The Lost Colony, Irtc 



MIDDLE: John Borden, left, crosses swords with Chief Pilot Simon 

 Fernandez before boarding the fateful voyage in 1587. 



Photo courtesy of The Lost Colony, Inc. 



BOTTOM: Rhett White, executive manager of The Lost Colony, Inc., 

 says the historic mystery attracts repeat audiences. He first saw it as a 

 4-H camper in 1954 — and countless times since. 



Photo by Pam Smith 



Through the years, productions have 

 become more sophisticated; costuming, more 

 elaborate; and lighting, more high-tech. New 

 theatre seating and voice amplification 

 enhance the audience experience. But no one 

 has "tinkered" with the plot. 



"Nothing could improve on the elements 

 that continue to evoke strong feelings from the 

 audience. It's a compelling story," White says. 



HISTORY SETS THE STAGE 



History sets the stage for the story that is 

 told in drama and comedy, song, dance and 

 special effects. The action shifts between the 

 lavish court of Queen Elizabeth I and the stark 

 landscape of Fort Raleigh, with a narrator 

 telling of events both on and off stage. 



The 1 19 men, women and children who 

 set sail from Plymouth, England, on May 8, 

 1587, could not have imagined the trials they 

 would face, says lebame houston, RIHA 

 historian. An Elizabethan scholar and author 

 who prefers her name in lower case, houston 

 relentlessly searches London records to 

 leam about the era of heroic exploration — 

 and tragedy. 



Water, wind and weather were among 

 the natural forces the colonists would confront 

 from the start, she says. The treacherous ocean 

 currents and shifting inlets along the Outer 

 Banks confounded even experienced ships' 

 pilots. Fierce storms might deliver a ship to the 

 "Graveyard of the Atlantic" or run it aground 

 in shallow sounds. 



The misdeeds of countrymen proved to 

 be another dangerous force at work against 

 successful colonization says houston. 



A colonization attempt under Gov. Ralph 

 Lane in 1585 — meant to pave the way for a 

 permanent settlement on Roanoke Island — 

 went sour. Conflicts with Roanoke King 

 Wingina smoldered. Plots and counterplots 

 climaxed when Lane's men attacked the tribal 

 village and beheaded Wingina. 



This fatal blunder sounded a death knell 

 on the future of English colonization there, 

 houston says. Members of Wingina' s tribe — 

 led by his kinsman, Wanchese — would 

 become deadly threats. And, inept at setting 

 fish nets and ill-prepared to grow crops 



28 HIGH SEASON 2003 



