Friday, June 10, 2011

Cry of the Mountain

The Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful, majestic. Here in Central Virginia, we are lucky that those mountains remain safe and protected from harmful outside forces. Unfortunately, in Southeastern Virginia, and many surrounding states, mountains are being destroyed in the name of providing us with fossil fuels.

Endstation's second production this season, Cry of the Mountain created and performed by Adelind Horan, explores the issue of mountaintop removal in Appalachia. According to Appalachian Voices, "mountaintop removal is an extreme form of coal mining that destroys forests, blasts up to several hundred feet off a mountaintop, and pushes rubble into nearby valleys. To date, more than 500 mountains have been destroyed and over 2000 miles of streams buried."

Adelind grew up in central Virginia and didn't find out about mountaintop removal in Appalachia until 2006. After participating with the group Mountain Justice, she began interviewing those involved in and affected by the process.

In Cry of the Mountain, Adelind performs her interviews with these individuals verbatim. She embodies their message and their mannerisms, and brings their experiences to life onstage. It is a truly powerful production, and one you most certainly won't want to miss.

Here is a little preview of the show.



To learn more about Cry of the Mountain, visit the Whole Theater website.

To learn more about mountaintop removal, visit the Appalachian Voices website.

No comments: