A well-known Virginia teacher, actor and playwright has been named to direct the second season of “Walk to Freedom—The Mary Draper Ingles Story” in Radford this summer.
Show dates:
June 22, 23, 24
July 13, 14, 15
July 27, 28, 29
Wesley Young, who has been a professor of Theatre and Cinema at Radford University since 2000, will take over directing duties of the historical outdoor drama he co-wrote with local resident and actress Kathleen Harshberger last year.
The play runs nine nights during June and July at the Nesselrod Bed & Breakfast Amphitheatre.
This year Young directed to acclaim the musical “Oklahoma!” at Radford University. The Kentucky native’s list of directorial credits is extensive and includes “The Importance of Being Earnest,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” featuring Hollywood actress Sally Struthers and “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” starring Broadway veteran Susann Fletcher Smith at Radford; “Driving Miss Daisy” at Roanoke’s Mill Mountain Theatre; “The Diary of Anne Frank” at Wohlfahrt Haus Dinner Theatre and “Barefoot in the Park” at the Kentucky Repertory Theatre.
During his career the Radford professor has performed as an actor across the country, including a one-man play as Irish dramatist Oscar Wilde that he also directed and produced.
Young is a graduate of Western Kentucky University and holds a master of fine arts degree in acting from the University of Alabama. He is a founding member of Public Theatre of Kentucky in his hometown of Bowling Green, past president of the Virginia Theatre Association and a member of Actor’s Equity Association and the Kennedy Center Directors Lab.
When Young moved to southwest Virginia almost two decades ago, he made a point to learn the region’s geography and history and that includes the stirring story of colonial heroine Ingles.
“The opportunity to work on this project has allowed me to indulge my love for theatre and for my adopted home,” he said.
Walk to Freedom is the amazing frontier story of Mary’s capture by Shawnee Indians from her Blue Ridge Mountain home in July 1755 during the French and Indian War. Although forced to travel through wilderness and held in servitude, she escaped from her captors and walked through Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia, navigating only through memory back to the New River Valley.
While Young sees Mary’s journey as one of great courage and resolve, he says it is also “about getting back to the people you love and the land where you belong.”
“I can think of little more moving than a love of family so strong that nothing can keep you from returning to them,” he added.
That was Young’s approach as a playwright and what he hopes to bring to audiences this summer as the director.
For additional information on the story or to purchase play tickets, visit the website: www.marydraperinglestrail.com. Tickets are also available at Radford Drug (243 W Main St.).
