The Lost Colony (Play Review)

During my vacation I went to a play with my family put on by the Roanoke Island Historical Association, which was called The Lost Colony. Now what I knew about the Lost Colony of the Roanoke Island before was basically that it was a lost colony and that Supernatural used it in an episode. My brother-in-law did fill me in a little bit, but I still did not know a lot about the actual history the play was based on.

The scenery with created with great skill and craftsmanship, that really brought the audience into the play. On the same note the special effects and pyrotechnics also brought the audience into the world that the play set up. I was caught up in all the wonderful technical aspects of the play.

The acting was also technically sound and a pleasure to watch. The actors were clear in speaking and they were effectively believable. I particularly enjoyed Thomas Bell’s portrayal of Old Tom and Payne Hopton-Jone’s portrayal of John Borden. It was an ensemble play with no weak links.

As far as the individual scenes my favorite was the 1st native american scene. The dancers danced perfectly while 2 men hung almost sideways from a tall totem pole.

The only issue I had was the ending, which ruined the entire play. All the hard work everyone did went down the trash to me. Instead of feeling completed and that I could leave with a conclusion I was left waiting in my chair. There was no “the end” moment. The historian that narrated the entire play seemed to disappear for the ending. The comedic relief, Old Tom, walked off in the crowd not saying anything. There was not even a bow to close it. The actors simply walked off the stage to end the scene. I even told my nieces to  sit back down, then the ushers came and stood in front of the audience. They just stood there, they did not say anything. It was not until I leaned over and asked one of the ushers if there was bows that I learned that the play was fully over. The cherry on the top of the bad ending was that hardly any of the cast members were out in the lobby, even though there was an announcement that the entire cast would be available for greeting.

Perhaps this is just my pet peeve, but I believe that an actor should show gratitude towards their audience and fans. I know I was made a fan of Payne Hopton-Jone’s that night and would have at least wanted to show that in my applause. Actors bow to thank the audience for supporting them and the audience applause the actors because they enjoyed the play. That is how it is supposed to be.

I really wish they would have done something to close the book, because it was such a good play otherwise.