Mabelle O. Barnett

NOVEL APPROACH: Country for old men

First Posted: 5/31/2013 In honor of Tunkhannock&#8217;s Sesquicentennial celebration, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Dietrich Theater will host the live theater production of the Civil War drama &#8220;The Bridegroom of Blowing Rock.&#8221; The play, written by Catherine Trieschmann, was the 2001 recipient of the L. Arnold Weissberger Playwriting Award. It is directed by Jennifer Jenkins.
This story was chosen as part of the celebration, because it displays how few differences there were between Union and Confederate patriots during the Civil War, according to Jenkins.
Jenkins said that she is &#8220;excited to bring this play to Tunkhannock for the Sesquicentennial celebration to show that wearing blue or grey really made no diference when it came to the destruction of families during the Civil War.&#8221;
&#8220;The Bridegroom of Blowing Rock,&#8221; is a story of romance between a lost soldier (David Swanson as the Bridegroom) and a young blind woman (Jila Rusavage as Laurel), one from the North and the other from the South, who meet near the close of the Civil War. The young couple soon discover that the similarities they share are far more important than their differences. The woman&#8217;s widowed mother (Elsa Farthing, played by Brenda Wenner), with one soldier son killed in front of her and another son, Jacob (Owen Frazier), still missing, is unable to let go of her bitterness and hatred.
The cast of local actors performing in this play include: Frazier and Heather Bixby (Bitty), both from the Abington area, as well as Laurel Radzieski (Maizey Hopewell), Swanson, Dave Perkins (Pastor Burns), Rusavage and Wenner.
The production has already received community support. Jenkins said, &#8220;We have such a supportive town full of people who were eager to donate costumes, set pieces and most importantly their time to make this project a success.&#8221;
The public is invited to attend this live theater event, which will be held outdoors at Tunkhannock&#8217;s Lazybrook Park June 21 and 22 at 7 p.m. There is no admission for this event, however those who attend are asked to bring their own lawn chair or blanket.

‘Bridegroom of Blowing Rock’ shares Civil War romance