Historical play hits home

By Joe Pinchot
Herald Staff Writer

“De-gana-widah’s Prophecy” is a mixed-media presentation of Crawford County history but writer James Elliott believes there is plenty in it for people in other parts of western Pennsylvania to relate to.

“It turned out to be a history of this whole area,” he said. Crawford County commissioners commissioned the Walnut Street Players to create the play, which mixes drama with music, dance and projected images.

The group, based at the Walnut Street Lodge in Sharpsville, has spent the last month performing primarily in grange halls in Crawford County, but will complete the cycle with a show Saturday at their home base.

Elliott researched the history of Crawford County for a year and wrote the play over four to six months. The cast helped edit the manuscript to production polish during two months of rehearsals. “De-gana-widah’s Prophecy,” commissioned for the county’s bicentennial, starts in about 1575 with the Indians who settled the area. It covers the struggles with early white settlers and significant events of the centuries that followed, such as the development of Cambridge Springs as a tourist spot, the discovery of oil in nearby Titusville and the Civil War.

Characters such as Cornplanter, David Mead, John Brown, Major Derickson, Abraham Lincoln’s bodyguard, and even Lincoln make appearances. “It’s 400 years in under two hours,” Elliott said.

Trying to compress so much history was a daunting task from a writing standpoint but the amount of material remaining has challenged viewers.

“We’ve had people come twice and say, ‘I’m glad I came again because I missed so much the first time,’” Elliott said.

De-gana-widah was a Huron Indian leader who was said to be born of a virgin and was a friend of Hiawatha, who Elliott uses to narrate the play.

The music is mostly from the historical eras with a couple of original pieces by Nancy Bizzarri. “I found as authentic stuff as I could,” Elliott said of the music, adding that it was difficult to find anything representing the Indians. “They were wiped out early so there’s very little record of them.”

Elliott, who lives in Volant, said the project has shown him how little he knows about his own area.

“When we were driving through Crawford County we knew about the places and why they’re named what they are. When I go to visit my parents in Hartford I realized I didn’t know anything about the place.”

Other members of the production, which includes musicians, singers, actors in multiple roles and dancers, are Larry Latsko, Jessica Palko, Ms. Bizzari, Jeff Brown, D. Abbey Alter, Brian Allmen, Andy Martin, Kirby Nelson and Ron Gracilla.

“De-gana-widah’s Prophecy” will be staged at 7 p.m. at the Walnut Street Lodge. Tickets: at the door.

Anyone who attends gets free admission to Caffeination downstairs, where Ms. Bizzari and Allmen will perform.

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