Outdoor drama institute to go East

Each summer, cannons sound, swords clash and actors spout rapturous monologues as North Carolina outdoor theaters host more than 153,000 spectators annually.

The trend of American outdoor theater originated in North Carolina, where renowned UNC alumnus Paul Green wrote “The Lost Colony” — the nation’s oldest outdoor drama — in 1937.

“Not many schools can boast that they were the birthplace of a new art form,” said Susan Phillips, manager of the Institute of Outdoor Drama, based at UNC-Chapel Hill since it’s founding in 1963.

However, the University will lose a vital piece of its dramatic clout this fall.

The institute, which will move to East Carolina University, is scheduled to begin its transition Aug. 1.

Spawned from Green’s legacy, the institute has been the leader in outdoor theater research, from marketing techniques to production design and writing trends.

“Their demographic work allows me to cross-check and spot trends to help me market in a different way,” said John Russell, managing director for The Montford Park Players in Asheville.

With the loss of the institute, UNC will drop a 47-year position as the central hub of outdoor theater in the country.

But the institute was not maliciously sought and plundered by the Pirates. Rather, it is moving with the purpose of survival in the face of recent budget cuts, including $6.6 million to centers and institutes at UNC.

“Without the institute, we would have a difficult time,” said James Wilson, primary organizer of Snow Camp Outdoor Theatre in Alamance County. “I’m sorry it’s leaving our backdoor.”

But Phillips said she does not expect the work of the institute to be affected by the move.

“We do not hold a grudge,” she said. “We hope that the move is going to be seamless.”

As the institute relocates within North Carolina, outdoor theater will retain its presence in the state.

Green represents to theatrical history what Thomas Wolfe provides in literature and Dean Smith in basketball — an initiator of grand tradition.

Creating hundreds of annual jobs and contributing more than $75 million to the state’s travel and tourism industry, outdoor drama is far from fading into backwater obscurity.

Every summer, “The Lost Colony” has gone on in the face of daunting obstacles.

Following a fire in 2007 that destroyed the show’s 70-year-old costume collection, award-winning designer William Ivey Long shaped an exquisite new wardrobe for the players.

“By summer of 2008, we had made 1,000 new costumes,” Long said.

Such devotion and subsequent fan loyalty stems in part from the drama’s connection to the local culture.

“The Lost Colony” stages Roanoke Island’s infamous legacy, on the same ground where the historic events occurred.

“The local community caused (the show) to happen,” Long said.

“It is a grassroots springing up and celebration of their history.”

Other outdoor dramas such as Snow Camp’s “The Sword of Peace,” which began in 1974, have likewise received avid support from steadfast fans.

“The more times you see it, the more the subtlety of the horrors of war or what people were wrestling with inside themselves are noticed,” said Wilson.

Theaters such as The Montford Park Players, which presents free outdoor Shakespeare, attribute their popularity to the laid-back natural atmosphere.

“Being in a park setting, they can bring a bottle of wine, sit out and enjoy themselves as the sun goes over the horizon and the play starts,” Johnson said.

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