Our Own Dixie
Land
This
four-act play opens as Diantha and her family greet her father, Benjamin, as he returns from a
mission to England
on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They are surprised as he introduces his companion,
Nancy Meedham, as his new wife, and are offended that
he does not introduce them as part of his family, as well. However, the Mormon communities of
nineteenth-century Utah were designed to be close-knit, centered around a town
or village, and it is not long before Benjamin must tell Nancy the truth, and
make more honest introductions. The distrust that Diantha’s
family cannot hide, and the new relationships that are formed, are explored
throughout the first half of the play.
It is in the
context of a budding religion in the middle of a salty Utah territory that Diantha
must grow to adulthood and choose the direction for her life. She watches carefully as she sees her Aunt Almera (her mother’s cousin, and her father’s second wife)
sent to Idaho
to avoid being captured by federal marshals.
She lives in the shadow of her mother, and craves the flirtatious
attention of young men her own age, even as her father repeatedly tries to
marry her off in polygamy to elders in the church. However, she also develops the capabilities
of a Latter-Day Saint woman who, as many such women did, must fill in the voids
left by absent male family members: she
takes a job as mercantile accountant, because the elders tout women’s
suitability to perform accounting; she assists her mother Minnie in running a
farm without the assistance of men; and she admires the beauty of the cloth
woven by her Aunt Almera. Diantha also learns
to cultivate a deep friendship with Nancy,
despite efforts by Minnie to maintain an adversarial relationship with her new
co-wife. By the end of the play, Diantha has learned enough to make her decision, and finds
she must have the strength to justify that decision to her family and to her
community.
Play Structure:
|
4 Acts: Act I, 6 scenes; Act II, 8 scenes; Act III,
2 scenes; Act IV, 4 scenes
|
Cast size:
|
6
|
Gender:
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4 female, 2 male
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Period:
|
1887
|
Location:
|
Leeds, a
Mormon village several miles outside of St.
George, Utah
|
Set:
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An empty stage with sparse utilitarian
furniture, such as folding chairs.
|
Technical:
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Sound specials for horses,
carriages, gunfire offstage
|
Production History
Our Own Dixie Land received its premiere production by Radiant
Theatre in Portland, OR, on July 17, 2005, as part of Emergence
(a festival of plays by women). The
festival was curated by Anna Soderberg. The play was directed by Ret Beadnall, with Tara Coen as
Stage Manager, and was performed by the following cast:
|
Diantha
|
Rynice Hanson
|
Minnie
|
Tina Connolly
|
Benjamin
|
Jim Underwood
|
Nancy
|
Cassie Skauge
|
Daniel
|
Kris Wallsmith
|
Almera
|
Kathryn Michel
|
Sister Webb
|
Elisabeth Underwood
|
Second Woman
|
Gail Mills
|
Daughter Webb/Dora
|
Adelle Underwood
|