WESTON, Vt. – Escape to the mountains of Appalachia in a new play with old music, “The Porch on Windy Hill,” playing at Walker Farm from Aug. 22 – Sept. 1.
With gloriously authentic old time and Bluegrass music, this heartwarming and uplifting new play tells the contemporary tale of a family reuniting against great odds. A young, biracial Korean American violinist and her boyfriend leave the confines of New York City for the freedom of the North Carolina mountains, where the music of Appalachia offers the inspiration they’re searching for. When they come upon her old family home and the estranged grandfather she’s tried to forget, old hurts and new joy reveal themselves through the music that binds us all together.
Cowriter Sherry Stregack Lutken, associate director of the critically acclaimed “Woody Sez,” directs the production. Says Stregack Lutken, “We are thrilled to bring our play to Weston audiences. ‘The Porch on Windy Hill’ incorporates some of America’s greatest old-time, traditional music – performed in all its rollicking, comic, tragic, and sentimental glory – into a modern play, born out of our country’s recent tumultuous history. It’s a powerful story about family, and the strength of love and honesty in the face of racism and ignorance, the healing power of music, and the possibility of redemption, forgiveness, and hope for the future.”
On its last stop of a three-theater-rollout, “The Porch on Windy Hill” makes its way to Weston from its first stop at the Northlight Theater in Chicago, bringing with it the cast from its second stop at Merrimack Repertory Theater in Massachusetts. David M. Lutken, cowriter and music director of the piece, returns to Weston to play Edgar. EJ Zimmerman makes her Weston debut as Mira, as does Rob Morrison, who rounds off the trio of actor-musicians as Beckett. Michael Cassara, CSA with over 500 credits, oversaw casting.
Weston welcomes set designer from the Northlight Theater’s production of “The Porch on Windy Hill,” Mara Ishihara Zinky. Costume designer Gregory Graham, lighting designer Dawn Chiang, and sound designer Sun Hee Kill also make their Weston debuts. Cowriters Lisa Helmi Johanson and Morgan Morse – also members of the original cast – make up the rest of the creative team remotely.
Discounts are available for Vermont residents. Tickets are available online at www.westontheater.org/box-office-ticketing-info, and by calling the Weston box office at 802-824-5288.
Following “The Porch on Windy Hill,” question the fabric of reality in “The Woman in Black.”