NC Outdoor Dramas

What a great way to learn more about North Carolina's rich history! Why not make plans to attend all ten of the state's outdoor dramas taking the stage this summer from Manteo to Cherokee. I've seen four of them and they were all excellent.

A Harnett County farm boy became the father of outdoor dramas. I've driven by Paul Green's humble boyhood home and it's inspirational to read about his rise to fame including a Pulitizer Prize for the Broadway play "In Abraham's Bosom." Green wrote the nation's first and longest running outdoor drama "The Lost Colony" and 16 others in his career.

What is your favorite outdoor drama? "Unto These Hills" at Cherokee traces the Trail of Tears in a highly emotional story. "Horn in the West" at Boone is all about Daniel Boone and the frontier spirit of the early settlers. You can immerse yourself in the history of pirates at Bath in "Blackbeard, Knight of the Black Flag." Andrew Jackson's early life is chronicled at Waxhaw in "Listen and Remember. Learn about the underground railroad in "Pathway to Freedom" at Snow Camp. "First for Freedom" near Roanoke Rapids portrays the events leading up to the signing of the Halifax Resolves in 1776. Raleigh boasts "Amistad Saga Reflections," an outdoor drama on the mutiny scene of Cinque and the African Hostages. The Bard comes alive in Wilmington in "Shakespeare on the Green." Learn about the Waldensians in Valdese in "From This Day Forward." Valdese is just a stone's throw from where I grew up. Let me hear from you!