Outdoor Drama

Outdoor Drama Fun Facts

Here are a few fun facts about the long and storied history of outdoor drama in North Carolina.

North Carolina Outdoor Drama

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended a showing of “The Lost Colony” during its first season. So did Brooks Atkinson, drama critic for The New York Times, whose praise drew nationwide attention.
With the exception of four years during World War II when the coastline was blacked out, “The Lost Colony” has played every summer since it was premiered.
There is a restored Quaker village and museum in Snow Camp, where “The Sword of Peace” portrays Quakers’ pacifism during the American Revolution.
More that a quarter million people will see an outdoor drama in North Carolina this summer.
North Carolina has ten historical outdoor dramas, more than any other state.
From 1947 to 1953 Andy Griffith cut his acting teeth at “The Lost Colony” in Manteo. 1975 Academy Award-winner Louise Fletcher made her acting debut in Cherokee’s “Unto These Hills” in 1956.
Veteran NPR broadcaster Carl Kasell got his acting start in 1952 at “The Lost Colony.”

Paul Green

Paul Green ordered a violin, Stradivarius Model, for $2.45 and taught himself to play it by taking a correspondence course and practicing in the piney woods.
Paul Green, the father of outdoor drama, read while plowing behind a mule on his family’s Harnett County cotton farm.
During his freshman year at UNC, Paul Green taught freshman English.
Playwright Paul Green won the 1927 Pulitzer Prize for his first play, “In Abraham’s Bosom.” Green, who was white, often examined the problems of blacks in the South in his writings.
Bette Davis’ favorite screen line, “I’d like to kiss you, but I just washed my hair,” was written for her by Paul Green.

added: April 30, 2010
updated: May 4, 2010

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