by WILLIAM GREGG & PERRY DEANE YOUNG
a part of the SART Heritage Series
2008 TOUR
September 16 – 26 2008
Directed by WILLIAM GREGG
A fresh examination of North Carolina’s most lurid axe murder. Historical drama about the 1833 hanging of Frances Silver for the murder of her husband Charlie.
Based on the book The Untold Story of Frankie Silver, Was She Unjustly Hanged? by Perry Deane Young.
Mars Hill College Theatre Arts professor and SART Artistic Director William Gregg, and local author and historian Perry Deane Young both have family connections to the real story the play was based on. Gregg's ancestor and namesake, William Gregg, was on the jury that indicted Frankie Silver; Young's great uncle, George Young, sold the whiskey to Charlie Silver that caused the fatal fight with Frankie.
The fall 2008 tour of the Heritage Series was funded in part by a grant award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
CAST
MRS. PERKINS Jane Porterfield
THOMAS WILSON Bradshaw Call
REV. JACOB SILVER Milton Higgins
WILLIAM ALEXANDER Waylon Wood
ELIZABETH GAITHER Rae Cauthen
SHERIFF BOONE Rob Miller
ISAIAH STEWART William Watts
FRANKIE SILVER Kelly Christianson
BLACKSTONE STEWART Kyle Mason
CHARLIE SILVER Chris Allison
JUDGE DONNELL Robert P. McDaniel
JAKE COLLIS Chris Allison
ISAAC GRINDSTAFF Z. Joseph Guice
REV. MCKAMIE Waylon Wood
Director William Gregg
Tour Manager Jane Porterfield
Stage Manager Alison Young
Set Design William Gregg
Light & Sound Josh Hasty
Costume Design Kate Russell
Technical Crew / Set Constr. Fred Gregg & Chris Robinson
Costume Assistant Robert P. McDaniel
Production Assistants Bradshaw Call & Robert P. McDaniel
Box Office Kathlene Ford Walters
SART Office Rob Miller & Lori Lynn Mullett Urzen
The TOUR Schedule
Sept. 16: Enka High School (Buncombe County NC): student performance
Sept. 18: Harris Middle School (Mitchell County NC): student performance
Sept. 19: Bowman Middle School (Mitchell County NC): student performance
Sept. 19: Bowman Middle School (Mitchell County NC): public evening perf.
Sept. 20: A-B Tech Comm. College (Asheville NC): public performance
Sept. 21: Enka High School (Buncombe County NC): public performance
Sept. 24: East Burke Middle School (Burke County NC): student perf.
Sept. 26: Madison High School (Madison County NC): 2 student perf.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE STORY OF FRANCES SILVER
Frankie is based on a true story. On December 22, 1831, Charles Silver was killed by his wife, Frances Stewart Silver (“Frankie”), at their home in the Toe River Valley in what is now Mitchell County, NC. Frankie’s attorney Thomas Wilson urged the family to plead guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter and argue self-defense, in order to avoid the possibility of a death sentence. However, Frankie’s father Isaiah Stewart, motivated by pride and distrust of attorneys, insisted she plead not guilty to murder. Despite evidence that was overwhelmingly circumstantial, Frankie was found guilty of murder by a Burke County jury in 1832 and hanged in 1833. At the time, western North Carolina residents were passionately divided by their opinions as to Frankie's innocence or guilt, and the controversy surrounding the event remains alive even today. Much of the testimony and the closing arguments in the courtroom scene of Frankie were taken directly from historical documentation. One may note with interest the archaic legal jargon used at the time. All of the characters in Frankie are historical characters with the exception of Mrs. Perkins and Elizabeth Gaither, who are composite sketches of the society women whose attempts to persuade the Governor to pardon Frankie nearly saved her life. The sequence of unlikely events that caused Frankie to remain in jail so long awaiting execution is factual.
about the SART Heritage Series Tour
Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART), the award-winning professional stage company based in Mars Hill, is bringing their new program, the Heritage Series Tour into the schools and public venues of western North Carolina and the southeast beginning with FRANKIE. The Heritage Series Tour brings theatrical works of historical significance into the schools and communities of the largely rural counties of western North Carolina, at a ticket price that is affordable to those who may not otherwise get the opportunity to experience live professional theatre. The tour is funded in large part by a grant awarded to SART by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
SART
Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre
P.O.Box 1720 / 44 College Street
Mars Hill, NC 28754
Business Office
828.689.1384
828.689.1272 (fax)
email
Box Office
828.689.1239
(May-August)
SART presents the mainstage summer season of productions each year in the historic Owen Theatre on the campus of Mars Hill College, Mars Hill NC.
Owen Theatre is equipped with hearing-impaired assistance devices
and wheelchair designated seating / access.
SART is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council
with funding from the state of North Carolina
and the National Endowment for the Arts,
which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
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