Strike at the Wind! is taking its legendary outdoor drama on the road. For the first time in its 48-year history, the play will be performed outside of Robeson County.
The iconic drama will be performed at 2 p.m. on Sunday, November 17, at the Weymouth Center, a cultural center for music, literature and art located at 555 E. Connecticut Avenue in the heart of Southern Pines. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children 12 and under. Guests are asked to bring their chairs or blankets. Food trucks will be on site. Proceeds will support the theatre program at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
UNCP is collaborating with the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities to offer a special one-time performance in celebration of American Indian Heritage Month. UNCP is producing the play under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Drahos, professor and director of UNCP’s theatre program.
“Our cast is just incredible,” Drahos said, “We have been together as a unit––as a close-knit family––for the better part of the last seven years. Most of our actors return to play different roles from year to year. What makes this event special, with our collaboration at the Weymouth Center, is that we can tour the play, for the first time, to another county outside Pembroke.
“We want to tell this very important and fascinating story of Native American culture and heroism to a broader audience to inspire communities that may not necessarily know much of the play or native Lumbee culture,” Drahos said.
Strike at the Wind!, written by Randolph Umberger and one of the longest-running outdoor dramas in the state, tells the story of the Lowrie War in 1865. In it, Henry Berry Lowrie led a band of men in a seven-year battle against those he believed killed his father and brother. The play debuted in 1976.
The play returned to sold-out crowds in 2017 after a 10-year hiatus, thanks to the collaborative efforts of UNCP, the Lumbee Tribe and the community. The show is typically performed during the summer at the Adolph Dial Amphitheater at the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Center. It ran for six shows in July.
The 34-member ensemble features a mix of veteran actors, UNCP theatre program students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members. Billy Oxendine, a graduate of UNCP’s theatre program and third-year graduate student at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University, and Cheyenne Ward, a senior theatre student, play the lead roles.
