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Trail of Tears
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER Abuses of power, bigotry and government-sanctioned genocide are just some of the subjects covered by playwright Joseph Hullett in "Trail of Tears," much of which is based on history... The play, in its world premiere at the Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills, overlaps stories from three eras to make the point that those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. There's a mantra to that effect, repeated almost robot-like by several of "Trail of Tears' " characters: "Forgotten, we repeat, a trail of lessons unlearned." The story begins in the present day with a heated discussion between an Israeli named Tamara Weiss and a scholar named Benson, eager to dig up the writings of Weiss' father, professor Alfred Barth, a renowned historian who taught at an Austrian university. A flashback takes us to the American south, circa 1838. The administration of President Andrew Jackson has decreed that the Cherokee Nation is to be pushed out of Georgia and forced west into Oklahoma Territory. Hullett tells the story of this shameful government action by focusing on one character, Cherokee woman Nancy Still (Tree Henson). The Cherokee - as Nancy explains to Boone (Richard Comeau), a white farmer who has befriended her - read the Bible, pray to the same God, and farm the same land as their white neighbors. They consider themselves Americans. "We are you," she tells him, pleading for his help. But Boone can't risk his own life defending the rights of his Indian friends, and soon, thousands of Cherokee men, women and children are forced on a 1,000-mile march that ultimately costs 5,000 of them their lives. During most of its first act, "Trail of Tears" bounces back and forth between tracing the fate of Nancy Still and some hazy, undefined time and place in the 20th century, where Barth (Sean Hannaway) has become obsessed with uncovering the truth of Nancy's fate - so obsessed, in fact, that he fails to see the dangers of the ugly political climate unfolding all around him. It's only as the play's first half draws to a close that Hullett reveals what he has up till now deliberately hidden... It's 1938, the German Anschluss ("reunification") has become a reality, and the Nazis are in power. The second half of "Trail of Tears" telescopes the effect of Barth's obsession with Nancy by reintroducing the character of Benson (Casey Long), who teaches at the same university that Barth did and is determined to uncover Barth's fate through his private journals. ...Some scenes are skillfully written and others not. Those in which the university's despicable, venal chancellor (Frank Valdez Jr.) attempts to unseat Barth is reminiscent of Hullett's writing in "Confirmation," an earlier Chance production. But in that play, the style made sense because we knew the time, place and characters - and thus, what was at stake. Because we don't see the impending specter of Nazism, we're given no clues as to how we're expected to react. Worse still, flabby pacing corrodes any dramatic tension the scene may have hoped to develop. ...Henson's work as Barth's wife, Vera, is standard issue - it's not the kind of role writers like writing or actors relish playing - but her work as Nancy Still is heart-rendingly real and unforgettable, a woman who even while dying along a dusty trail had the presence of mind to write her tale of woe on her infant daughter's dress, then bribe a mercenary soldier to return with it to Georgia. Comeau also succeeds in painting two entirely different personalities. Barth's elderly Jewish colleague, professor Levi, is sketched in short strokes and, like Vera, is more a function of the plot. White farmer Boone, though, is a complex mixture of sympathy for the plight of the Cherokee and self-preservation, and Comeau makes plain the man's self-disgust over his moral weaknesses. David Perez is also double cast and, like Hannaway and Comeau, he limns vastly different personalities. Even while his Kanin, Barth's colleague (and former student), is one-dimensional, Perez shows the younger man's smarminess, his eyes gleaming with malice as he describes the Kristallnacht. He's even better as the stoic Cloud, a Cherokee who has joined the U.S. Army in its mission to enforce the death march of his people. Like Levi, Long's Benson is mainly a plot device
rather than a genuine character. And, like Nancy Still, Tamara is a victim
with a complex personality whose passions are given full voice in Karen
Webster's compelling performance.
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NORTHERN LIGHTS The world premire of Joseph Hullett's "Trail of Tears" - at The Chance Theater in Anaheim Hills -left the audience stunned in their seats. A hard-hitting, historically accurate tale of genocide, it happened right here in the United States and is comparable to the Bataan death march of WW II. For "Trail," however, that was just the beginning. Award-winning playwright [Joseph] Hullett traces the impetus for this project to a chance visit to Atlanta, Georgia, 10 years ago. "I ran across a statue of a Cherokee woman named Nancy Still. Her two-year-old daughter was depicted, peeking out from behind her skirts, and it caught my eye," Hullett explained. "Then I read the plaque. It told of how all the people of Cherokee blood - in Georgia and Tennessee - were uprooted in 1838 and hearded west to the Oklahoma Territory, on a 1,000 mile forced migration. Even though many of these people were solid fixtures in their communities, they had to abandon their homes, leave their farms and walk away from their churches. Over 5,000 men, women and children died of starvation or froze to death." With the stroke of President Andrew Jackson's pen the Treaty of New Echota, soon became known as "The Trail of Tears." Still had petitioned Jackson for the right to stay where she was born and raised. She pleaded her case, using the "talking leaves" of her native alphabet. She was amazingly elloquent, just and poetic. Unfortunately, the "talking leaves" fell silently past unhearing ears. Hullett, who also had a young daughter, was touched by the heartbreak of it all. "It was always in the back of my mind to write about this," he said. "About three years ago I began the long journey of telling this story." Eventually, Hullett brought the project to The Chance Theater, in Anaheim Hills. Well respected for producing two other powerful pieces about historical and ethnic oppression - "The Stroop Report" and "Unrelenting Relaxation" - Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen jumped at the opportunity to produce and direct it. "We worked closely with Hullett, in developing 'Trail of Tears' as a viable play." Nguyen stated. "Through a series of workshops and readings, we were able to streamline the script to a managable length and are very proud of the results." Nguyen, a man of impecable taste and insight, was the proper choice for this monumental task. Talent and respect combine to make this an unforgettable experience. While telling the painful story of Cherokee nation building, "Trail of Tears" has many surprises. One of them is the time line, which is a circle in a spiral - spinning early 19th Century tales of horror into a modern tapestry of similar sorrow. The cast of eight portrays 15 characters and their experiences - though different - enfold on each other in a striking manner. Telling Nancy Still's story is what the main characters attempt to do at great personal risk. This is about much more than any one story, however. It explores the nature of what makes each of us civilized and human. In "Trail of Tears," Hullett, Nguyen and company have presented a vivid, heroic and touching work that is important, timely, and rises to the level of great literature. Actors Karen Webster, Casey Long, Sean Hannaway, Tree
Henson, Richard Comeau, David Perez, Alan Hartung and Frank Valdez Jr.
are to be commeded for their collective focus and devotion to the project.
The realization of "Trail of Tears" is simultaneously devastating
and moving. Lest we forget the lessons offered, Nancy Still is there to
reminds us: "An echo can change things," but only if it's heard!
As history repeats cruelty upon cruelty, "Trail of Tears" explains
that this type of injustice is preventable, if good people take a stand
for decency. Until that day, there will be many different trails, but
the tears are all the same!
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AOL DIGITAL CITY An intense piece for adults on the nature of genocide
is hardly a nice fluffy night out at the theater a la 'The Lion King,'
but award-winning playwright Joseph Hullett's new piece, 'The Trail of
Tears,' is more concerned with challenging the audience than merely offering
innocuous entertainment. The story deals with a historian researching
a little-known, but deeply disturbing chapter of American history involving
the death of over 5000 Cherokee natives in 1838, going back-and-forth
in time to cover both his story and the woman who was involved in the
incident. This world premiere production (the third that Hullett has debuted
at the always innovative Chance) is directed by Oanh Nguyen.
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