I spent the weekend in NYC, hanging out with friends and attending a production written by talented young playwright Dorothy Fortenberry. Burned Over is a two-act play about the Millerites, who were members of an apocalyptic movement in the 1840s. They were progressives, abolitionists, and they happened to think the world was very soon going to end. They did all kinds of wild things, went into enormous amounts of debt, and through social conventions by the wayside. After all, the world was going to end.
And then it didn’t.
In Burned Over, a young graduate student discovers that her family’s past is rooted in the Millerite cult. The story takes place in the present and the past, where the graduate student’s ancestor, her fiance and her sister all react very differently to the influences of the movement. The second act, in particular, is very strong, as the graduate student’s life shows some eerie parallels to the sisters’ story. It was thought provoking, well-written and emotional. This girl is going to be a big hit, I’m sure.
Moreover, it gave me an opportunity to step outside of my normal artisitc sphere. I liked seeing another young writer making good, especially since it was in such a very different field.
