In two weeks the play Dark of the Moon will be presented at the Barboursville Park Amphitheatre. It’s based on Appalachian folk tales, stories and songs, and tells the story of two star-crossed lovers - a beautiful woman and the Witch Boy who falls in love with her.
We have several interviews with the cast coming up, but first let’s hear from the show’s director, Robert Hutchens:
Q: Tell us about Dark of the Moon.
Robert: Dark of the Moon opened on Broadway in 1945 and had a successful run in London in 1948-49. It was revived Off-Broadway in 1970. The play is based loosely on the Ballad of Barbara Allen, but has been transposed to the Appalachian Mountains. It tells the story of John, the Witch Boy, who falls in love with a human, Barbara Allen. He persuades the Conjur Woman to turn him into a human. She does, but on the condition that Barbara be faithful to him for a year.
Q: Why did you want to work on this show?
Robert: I chose it for an unusual reason. It is a play associated with very fond memories from the past. For 10 years, Hunter Hills Theatre, a summer stock company of the University of Tennessee, presented Dark of the Moon in Gatlinburg, Tenn. It was the only play repeated more that two seasons. The reason was the fervent loyalty it inspired in audiences. Visitors to the mountains would return repeatedly to see the play, even though the other offerings were big name musicals. Dark of the Moon's attraction was in part the perfect blending of its story and the setting of the theatre. We did the play in a 3,000-seat amphitheatre, with Tennessee's tallest mountain, Mount LeConte, in direct view behind the stage. The poignant love story and the mountain music set against the mountains was something special. When I saw the Barboursville amphitheatre, I couldn't help but think of Hunter Hills and Dark of the Moon. This production is a recreation of play as conceived by our director back then, Fred Fields. He saw the play as a folk tale set in some distant, vague past, rather than modern times. As such, it is more lyrical and touching than other productions may be.
Q: What's your background in theatre?
Robert: I graduated in theatre from the University of Tennessee, where I worked for several years in administration, management and marketing. Later I acted with the Clarence Brown Company of The Book of Job. At different times of my life, I have gone back to theatre as a director, teacher, and performer.
Q: What's the most challenging this about the show?
Robert: The most challenging thing about the play so far has been recruiting the people we need to have in it. The cast has 23 people in it, and we need lots of support personnel. Fortunately, I have very capable help from our producer Sheila Meade, musical directors Dr. John Campbell and Brian Cook, choreographers Coni and Gene Anthony, set designer Parr Thacker, Costume and Props designer, Becky McClelland, and Lighting Designer Corey Jones, as well as support from the Alchemy Theatre Board.
Q: Why would you recommend this show to our readers?
Robert: It's hard for me to be objective about Dark of the Moon, just as it is for the hundreds of people associated with those 10 years of production in Tennessee. The play is so rooted in our hearts and memories that we can't see it as anything except something beloved. But I think I can say accurately that the play succeeds because it has a strong, suspenseful story. It is filled with old mountain music, sometimes lively, sometimes haunting, It creates a world whose mountains and valley people are familiar and whose fantastical characters become familiar within the space of a couple of hours. What I imagine is going to be the most memorable thing about the play is the way it sits in the natural beauty of the park, surrounded by hills and woods, and comes to life as dusk settles each evening.
Thanks, Robert!
Dark of the Moon will be presented by the Alchemy Theatre Troupe on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 27 and 28 and Oct. 4 and 5 at 8 p.m. at the Barboursville Park Amphitheater.
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