RETURN

The Woods

August 30 - September 4, 2022
Pendragon Theatre
15 Brandy Brook
Saranac Lake, NY 12983

Writer: Jahna Ferron-Smith
Director: Colette Robert
With: Ricki Lynée, Max Morter, Ty Spencer, SJ Hannah, Ian Poake, Lisa Jill Anderson, & Hannah-Kathryn Wall

Summary: Since its creation, the United States National Park Service has been tasked with preserving, arguably, this country's most stunning monuments to the "American Dream" However, dwindling Park attendance nationwide has sent the NPS scrambling to ensure it's survival. The mission? To engage those they’ve traditionally left out of the narrative of the great outdoors!—people of color. THE WOODS. explores our learned relationships to the "American" landscape--who’s taught to love it? Who's taught to fear it? Who's allowed to claim it?--and the consequences those cultural narratives have on young Black Americans, only just learning what being Black in today's "American landscape" might mean for them. Going forward, might there be a way to manifest a more positive narrative surrounding the natural environment, for the sake of those next in line to inherit it?

• NOMINATED, BroadwayWorld Central New York Awards - Best Play (Professional), 2022

• NOMINATED, BroadwayWorld Central New York Awards - Best New Play or Musical (Professional), 2022