"Long Ago and Far Away" play to be performed

Frankfort playwright Jerry Deaton will be presenting another of his plays, Long Ago and Far Away, by the Frankfort Studio Players, April 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, and 13 here in Frankfort on the First Presbyterian Church stage. 

 

Over the past ten years, Jerry has written four plays, all with very different themes. The ideas for each of them came from various motivations and circumstances, but his latest production, Long Ago and Far Away came to him some years ago on a bicycle ride here in Franklin County. 

 

“One by one, three of the four, one act plays popped into my head on that ride. I was just in a strange groove I suppose, and the first one was about my dad leaving Breathitt County for college in the late 1950’s. I had recently spoken with him about that memory and his description of how hard a decision it was, and the factors behind it stuck with me. Life as they knew it in the mountains was ending, and people were leaving in alarming numbers. It seemed that it was his “time to go” as well.”

 

A little further down the road, Jerry thought how interesting it would be to present a day in the life of several people as they sat around a country store in rural Buckhorn, Ky, discussing the things that were of interest to them that day. 

 

“I grew up in near Buckhorn, Ky, and Sparks General Store had always been a part of my life. While there, I had recently overheard several men talking about some things that had happened, and it struck me how those items were of such importance to those gathered there that day. The subject matter seemed so distant to what I would be concerned with back here in Frankfort, yet it was clear how relevant it was to them in their daily lives.”

 

And just as that idea cleared away, Jerry’s recent efforts putting together the wording for an historical marker in Breathitt County for Sergeant Willie Sandlin, popped into his head. Sandlin was the only Kentuckian to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for serving in World War 1, and It struck Jerry how interesting his simple background and story were, and the idea to re-create a fourth of July celebration in 1919 was born.

 

Jerry returned home and quickly jotted those ideas down and began to develop the rest of the stories for each. Finally, Jerry decided to base the fourth and final act of the play on an earlier piece of Kentucky history, set in 1904, as the Kentucky General Assembly passed a devastating piece of legislation called the Day Law. This act is set in the Old State Capitol here in Frankfort as the Senate Education Committee considers a law that would prohibit black and white students from being educated in the same building.

 

As Jerry stated, “Unfortunately, the sponsor of the bill hailed from Breathitt County. I was looking for a piece set in that era of our state’s history, and the parts all just came together. It is a story with a very hard lesson.

 

Long Ago and Far Away is, according to Jerry, his favorite of the plays he has written. The play consists of four stories, Act 1, the Day Law;  Act 2, Our Willie;  Act 3, Time to Go; and  Act 4, A Day at Sparks. The play is about an hour and a half long, including a 15 minute intermission.

 

“These stories touch a very personal chord, and they remind me of how attached I still am to eastern Kentucky, especially my home in Breathitt County. I think history is very compelling, and if told in the right way, about as good a story as you can hear. The little theatre at First Presbyterian Church is absolutely the perfect place to put these stories on display.”

 

Tickets for Long Ago and Far Away are $15, and can be gotten online at firstpresbyterianfrankfort.org/events, or that day at the door.