REVIEW
Piece of Eden Reminds That (Almost) All Are Newcomers
Watching PIECE OF EDEN, it feels like the entire Eastern Shore is working out its culture and history and doing it with enthusiasm and integrity. The play runs through Sunday at Cape Charles’ Historic Palace Theatre. (Wave photo by Ted Warner)
By TED WARNER
Cape Charles Wave
November 16, 2012
Piece of Eden is a rare accomplishment. Theater can be entertaining, and it can be an escape. It can challenge us and move us. But rarely are we reminded that theater can be an artistic expression from the imagination of an entire community — or, in our case, an entire peninsula.
Watching Piece of Eden, it feels like the entire Eastern Shore is working out its culture and history and doing it with enthusiasm and integrity. One suspects that few communities could muster such relevant and enjoyable theater.
The play is a history of the Eastern Shore, beginning moments before the arrival of Europeans and ending at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Jean Collins, the play’s author, avoids revisionism (the Native Americans are neither noble savages nor savages). Likewise, neither does the play depict the Europeans as greedy, genocidal conquerors, as was fashionable until recently. It is a balanced history. [Read more…]
