Cry of the Mountain

Adelind Horan: Cry of the Mountain

a documentary play from Appalachia about the people who live with MountainTop Removal

One woman, 13 characters and a banjo. Real stories from America’s coal fields. Verbatim. Coal miners, mining executives, mountaineers, hillbillies and protesters.  Bluegrass music and cookies at every show.

Mountaintop removal is blowing up the mountain to get the coal underneath. ‘It’s like going to the barber for a hair cut, and having him cut off your head, shoulders and chest.’

  • ‘It’s like Anna Deavere Smith … with a banjo’ (NPR)
  • ‘Adelind Horan is a fantastic talent!’ (Daily Progress)
  • ‘Comparisons to the early stage work John Leguizamo are inevitable’ (C-ville Weekly).

This is wonderful, simple, powerful and true piece of theatre/performance art, in which Adelind portrays those involved with and affected by Mountaintop Removal in Appalachia.  The characters are performed verbatim from interviews conducted last summer while volunteering with coal related clean up in West Virginia and Kentucky.  Miners, mining executives, mountaineers, environmentalists, scientists, hillbillies and protesters.

Photos below by Jeremy Felson/Whole Theatre:

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