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| Performers practice during a rehearsal for 'The Lost Colony,' which opens for the season Friday at Waterside Theatre on Roanoke Island. CHRIS CURRY/THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT |
By CATHERINE KOZAK, The Virginian-Pilot © May 27, 2007
Back when the oldest outdoor symphonic drama in the nation was in its infancy, costumes were made from bed spreads and it was cast with inexperienced local performers.
Seventy years later, "The Lost Colony" is bedecked by an award-winning Broadway costume designer and is directed by an acclaimed British theater veteran. Actor Andy Griffith long ago cut his teeth on it, and stage great Lynn Redgrave recently dazzled audiences in a guest appearance.
Still, the story of the ill-fated 1587 settlement on Roanoke Island, the first attempt by the English to colonize the New World, is true to playwright Paul Green's original script. And the play has not strayed from its roots in the island community.