Foxfire has become synonymous with North Georgia’s rich mountain heritage. Begun as a school magazine in 1966, it featured stories about the pioneer era and traditions of southern Appalachia. That student-led magazine morphed into a popular book series that in 1974 funded the founding of an immersive museum in Rabun County. Foxfire also inspired a play of the same name written by Hume Cronyn and Jonathan Holtzman which, in 1987, was turned into a TV movie.
Next month at the Sautee Nacoochee Center in White County, you can see the play and learn the backstory of how it came into being.
The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia will host the Foxfire exhibit between October 4 and October 16. During that time, the play Foxfire will be presented in the Center Theatre for six performances.
Directed by David White, Foxfire tells the story of Annie Nations, an indomitable Appalachian widow of 79, living on her mountain farm with the acerbic ghost of her husband, Hector. Her tranquility is threatened by a brash real estate developer who wants to turn her land into a vacation resort and by concern over her son, Dillard, a country singer who has come home with two stranded children because his wife has run away. The show is full of history, humor and heartache and is appropriate for all ages.
To learn more about the play and its inception, the Foxfire exhibit in the Folk Pottery Museum is a must-see. The exhibit includes assorted ephemera loaned from the Foxfire Museum that relates to the organization and the play. Visitors will be able to discover more about the dedicated Foxfire students, learn about the creative masterminds behind the play, and read about the woman who served as the inspiration for the work’s main character. The exhibit is curated by Kami Ahrens of the Foxfire Museum.
Foxfire performance dates are:
- Friday and Saturday, October 7-8, 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, October 9, 2 p.m.
- Friday and Saturday, October 14-15, 7:30 p.m.
- Sunday, October 16, 2 p.m.
Following the Sunday matinees, the museum will be open for refreshments with the cast.
Tickets for the show are available online at www.snca.org or by calling 706-878-3300. Admission to the Folk Pottery Museum is free. The museum is open seven days a week, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information about the exhibit, please visit FolkPotteryMuseum.com. For information about the show, visit www.snca.org.
The Sautee Nacoochee Center is located at 283 Highway 255 North, near Helen, Georgia.
