Lost Colony (play)
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The Lost Colony is a historical play by Paul Green about Roanoke, the first English colony in North America. Based upon Sir Walter Raleigh's failed attempts at establishing a permanent settlement in the 1580s in part of what was then the Colony of Virginia, the play has been performed since 1937 in an outdoor theater nearby the site on Roanoke Island in the Outer Banks region near present-day Manteo, North Carolina. The Lost Colony was the first, and as of 2007 was the longest running, historical outdoor drama in the United States.
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[edit] Longest Running Historical Outdoor Play
For 70 years a theater company has been performing a play outside and under the stars. Since its first performance in 1937, over 4 million visitors have seen this dramatic story of America's earliest beginnings.
A 400 year-old mystery haunts Roanoke Island on North Carolina's Outer Banks. There, in 1587, an estimated number of 120 men, women and children established the first English colony in the New World, then vanished without a trace, leaving historians and archaeologists with one of America's most perplexing mysteries.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paul Green, The Lost Colony tells the story of the first English colony. The play is performed at the historic Waterside Theatre on Roanoke Island. It is the first and longest running historical outdoor drama. Combining drama, dance, spectacle, and song, the production is a forerunner of the modern American musical.
[edit] Play Synopsis
Before Jamestown and Plymouth, a group of about 120 men, women and children bravely established one of the first English settlements in the New World on Roanoke Island in 1587. Shortly after arriving in this New World, colonist Eleanor Dare, daughter of Governor John White gave birth to Virginia Dare. The Governor's granddaughter was the first English child born in North America.
However, life on the island was difficult. Low on supplies and facing hostile Native Americans, the colonists sent Governor John White back to England in the summer of 1587 for supplies. Due to the impending war with Spain, Governor White was unable to return to Roanoke Island until 1590. When he arrived, the colony had vanished, leaving one tantalizing clue as to their whereabouts: the word "CROATOAN" carved on a post. The fate of those first colonists remains a mystery to this day and is one of America's most intriguing unsolved mysteries.
[edit] History of the Play and Famous Actors
During the play's long run, the production has served as a training ground for hundreds of remarkably accomplished alumni. Notable actors such as Andy Griffith, Leon Rippy, Chris Elliott, Eileen Fulton, Terrence Mann, Nina Repeta, The Daily Show's Dan Bakkedahl and R.G. Armstrong got their stage legs at the Waterside Theatre. [1] Future NPR broadcaster Carl Kasell and North Carolina state Senator Marc Basnight also graced the stage of Waterside Theatre.
The current production is led by an award-winning artistic team, several of whom credit The Lost Colony for their own auspicious beginnings. Five-time Tony Award Winning Production Designer William Ivey Long and Emmy-nominated Executive Director Carl Curnutte began their artistic careers with the show.
