NEWBERRY — History will come alive April 6 when Living Voices: Journey from the Dust is performed on the stage of the Newberry Opera House.
According to newberryoperahouse.com, this is the story of American families confronted by the stock market crash of 1929 and the Dust Bowl.
Struggling to keep his family together, one young man experiences the loss of his home, the separation of his family and economic prejudice. He travels hundreds of miles from Oklahoma to the Grand Coulee Dam, discover an American tragedy and find courage to survive.
Michael McClinton, one of the founders of Living Voices and producer of the program, said they present a unique format with their productions.
“It combines theater and video and audio, all tying together. A one person show, it also has a video and audio element that goes along with it. It creates the same kind of world as you would see at a theater with a number of actors, but with just one actor,” McClinton said. “The other characters, their voices come from the video. It is like a set or a movie, able to re-create the world going on at the same time as the performance. It is timed, and brings it all together into one unique package.”
When it comes to Journey from The Dust, McClinton said it is the story about a young man’s family that is broken a part by the Dust Bowl and he has to travel to find work in California and Washington state.
“It is the journey of what people went through at that time. The economy was so bad, they had to find work to make a living in a home,” he said. “When we put our shows together, we consider what we want to learn as adults and what we think kids will want to learn.”
McClinton said that Living Voices is designed with the whole family in mind. Children will learn about a time they know very little about, from the point of view of a young person, played by Alex Bodine. Someone who might remember the Dust Bowl or is the child of a Dust Bowl survivor can get even more out of it by seeing the history come alive in ways they may not have realized before.
“It is one thing to read about a world event in books, but to sit in a theatre and see the experience unfold before your eyes engages all the senses and expands the experience,” said Molly Fortune, executive director of the Newberry Opera House. “The Great Depression has become an event students today read about — the ones who lived through it are all passing on and the ability to hear firsthand is not an option. To see the emotions on the face of the actor, to hear their voice, to see their clothes is a step back in time and will make a lasting impact on students today.”
The production is sponsored through the Dufford Institute of Cultural Diversity, and tickets are on sale now. Performances are at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. April 6. Contact the Newberry Opera House at 803-276-6264 for tickets.