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1937: The Curtain Rises Both apprehension and optimism characterized the opening season of The Lost Colony. Five years earlier, in 1932, a group of regional businessmen led by W.O. Saunders, editor of The Elizabeth City Independent, formed the Roanoke Island Historical Association to plan a celebration of the 350th anniversary of Sir Walter Raleighs first English-speaking colony in the New World.  Opening night, July 4, 1937, Waterside Theatre The centerpiece of the celebration was to be an outdoor pageant by playwright Paul Green. Green described his play as a ''symphonic drama,'' a theatrical experience that combined historical drama, English ballads of the period, and choreography to express the hardships and politics of the first attempts at English colonization.  Queen Elizabeth and her court, 1937 production |
''These people who landed on your island had courage to do what their countrymen had not done before.
Our heritage is the fruition of their brave endeavor." Excerpt from a letter by FDR, on the opening of Fort Raleigh, 1934  Franklin Roosevelt at Lost Colony, August 18, 1937  Paul Green and Samuel Selden re-write script, 1939 |
Lost Colony Outdoor Drama
History & Background
What's history without legend?
