The Lost Colony (play)
It is based on accounts of Sir Walter Raleigh's attempts in the 16th century to establish a permanent settlement on Roanoke Island, then part of the Colony of Virginia.
Before Jamestown and Plymouth were founded, a group of about 120 men, women and children established one of the first English settlements in the New World on Roanoke Island in 1587.
When he arrived, he found no evidence of the colony, save the word "CROATOAN" carved into a palisade of the fort and a nearby tree with the letters "CRO" similarly inscribed.
Mabel Evans Jones, Roanoke Island native and Dare County School Superintendent, wrote, produced and starred in a 1921 silent film of the historic events.
"[9] He joined with Saunders and Bradford Fearing, president of the Roanoke Historical Society, to develop a play to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Virginia Dare's birth.
Initially, the team imagined a plot to tell the legend of Virginia Dare's falling in love with Chief Manteo's son and giving birth to a new race that has since vanished.
To raise interest in the pageant, they planned to conduct a nationwide beauty contest to find a young woman to play Virginia Dare.
[10] North Carolina Congressman Lindsay Warren secured the production of 25,000 memorial half dollars to be sold to raise funds.
[11] English-born architect Albert Quentin "Skipper" Bell began construction of the large-scale set with assistance from workers of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
English-born actress Katherine Cale starred as Eleanor Dare, Virginia's mother, while Lillian Ashton portrayed Queen Elizabeth I, Earl Mayo played the comic Old Tom, and Jack Lee narrated the production as The Historian.
The production was directed by Samuel Selden, one of Green's associates in the UNC Playmakers of Chapel Hill, under the supervision of Frederick H. Koch.
Actor Andy Griffith, who performed at the production's Waterside Theatre on Roanoke Island from 1947 to 1953, liked Manteo so much he decided to live there permanently.
North Carolina State Senator Marc Basnight was born in Manteo; he performed in the role of a colonist child in the play.
[18] The production is often referred to as a training and proving ground for young artists, and many use their summers as a launching pad for their professional careers with success on broadway, in film, television, theme parks, and beyond.
In addition to Andy Griffith, other notable alumni who got their stage legs at Waterside Theatre include Leon Rippy, Chris Elliott, Eileen Fulton,[19][20][8] Terrence Mann, Ira David Wood III, Carl Kasell[21][22] and R. G. Armstrong.
Ted Tally spent a summer in the production long before winning top Academy Award honors for his screenplay of Silence of the Lambs.
Academy Award and Tony Award-nominee Lynn Redgrave played the supporting role of Queen Elizabeth I for seven performances during the show's 2006 season.
