By Mary Ellen Graybill

The play, Heathen Valley, was performed at Millersville University by students studying Theatre there, and I went to the last show at 2PM on Sunday, March 27. [EDITOR’S NOTE:] This is an impromptu review of a production at Millersville University. The play’s last performance was last Sunday; here is a listing of upcoming shows.

It was worth the trip!  

Romulus Linney’s play dramatically illustrated the complex interrelationship between individuals and their environment, and the failure of outside intervention to control their future.  

Mr. Linney’s characters are living in a forgotten and poverty-stricken western North Carolina valley, near the town of Boone, in the 1860’s where luck has passed them by. The people have their folk ways, herbal medicines, and even superstition to keep them relatively happy and healthy nevertheless. They are hostile to the three outsiders from the church who arrive to “rescue” them from their way of life.

The Episcopal Church has sent the Bishop of North Carolina and missionaries to the valley which previously had no organized religion.

What happens is that the mountain people gradually are won over by the intelligent kindness of the missionaries, and the building of a school, church, and a medical clinic. The material changes are welcomed, and soon even marriage and prayer seems to be accepted.

 The Bishop has an influence while he is there, and the community is seemingly transformed into a happier and healthier group of people.

Then the Bishop decides to depart the area to join a Catholic Church, after he tries to bring a Catholic influence to his little congregation. He thus parts company with the community, leaving them without a focus, without a goal for peace and happiness.

He had, in a sense, not left them with any tangible inner strength that could carry them on, it seems.

“It was that good”

Many in the audience stated that they found the play very thought-provoking, enjoyable and educational. Some even said it was the “very best stage theatre” they had seen in years, and maybe ever.

“It was that good,” said one theatre attendee after the performance. “Everything was good about that play and the way the Millersville University drama department produced it with undergrads for actors.”

“I enjoyed this play,” said one play goer who had attended the earlier plays at the theatre in the fall.

One of three put on every year by the Millersville University, Heathen Valley, adapted from the first book by the author, Romulus Linney, was a compelling drama based in North Carolina, and portraying people of the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina, living without law, formal education, a church or jobs in the mid-19th century.

Next time there’s a play at Millersville University; this is a recommendation to go see it. The prices are reasonable, at $10, $7 for seniors; the snacks are just $1. And the play is a great cultural event just a few miles from downtown Columbia, Pennsylvania, itself situated on a scenic river and full of creative people!