Staff Writer

ONEONTA — A group of local actors and actresses will bring the stories of pioneer families traveling westward in the mid-1800s to life during performances scheduled for this weekend.

Deborah Merola, associate professor of theater arts at Hartwick College, has adapted "Grass Songs," by Ann Turner, a book of poetry based around journal accounts of the pioneer women, for the stage.

The finished product, to be performed this weekend, is an ensemble of dramatic dialogues, music and dancing performed by Hartwick students, musicians, dancers and local children, Merola said.

"I gave certain lines (from the original book) to certain characters, so they at times became a dialogue, at times a chorus and at times a conversation," Merola said. "I connected the characters to the words in the poetry."

Merola's play stars 18 students, a professor, seven local children and several local dancers and musicians. Together, the cast members act out the life stories told in Turner's poetry.

"It's not like seeing a set of poems," Merola said. "It's seeing different characters and their stories."

Although the adaptation was written by Merola, staging some of the scenes was a collaboration, she said. The children and students in the play often helped develop their characters, Merola said.

For example, 9-year-old Xandry Langdon of Oneonta named her own character Marta.

"She's supposed to be very energetic," Xandry said of Marta, a 7 or 8-year-old pioneer girl traveling with her family. "She sings, and she likes to listen to people sing."

The actors' input is what makes "Grass Songs" unique, said Jeanne Loh Langdon, who directed the children in the play.

"They have helped actively develop what is on stage," said Langdon, who is also Xandry's mother. "They have actively created their characters."

Other children in the play include Katie Krikorian of Oneonta, and Delhi residents Hannah, Ian and Jacob Lamont and Rebekah and Nathanial Efthimiou, Merola said.

"The children were really integrated into the cast," she said. "They made a serious contribution."

A local dog also made some scenes at the suggestion of some of the children, Merola said.

"The way I work is to open to my cast and create my ideas through them," Merola said.

Ian, 14, who plays 14-year-old Chris, said that was true throughout the rehearsals.

"Mrs. Merola has been wonderful about encouraging us to develop our characters on our own," he said.

The characters played by Ian and his brother, Jacob, were taken straight from the text of Turner's poems, the boys said.

"He was already in the script," Jacob, 11, said. "He's kind of mischievous but not too terrible."

Their sister Hannah's character, however, comes from an illustration by Barry Moser in Turner's book.

"I could pick her name, so I named her Hannah, after me," Hannah, 12, said. "She's in between a tomboy and a young lady."

Turner and Moser visited campus Friday to preview the show and offer input, Merola said.

Performances are scheduled for 8 tonight and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday at Slade Theatre in Yager Hall. Tickets cost $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and children. Tickets for Hartwick and State University College at Oneonta students are free.

Those younger than 18 who create a picture of a pioneer scene can attend Sunday's performance free, Merola said, warning that younger children may not be able to handle some of the more serious scenes in the play.

"It has some very sober material," Merola said. "It's very real, and it's based on the truthful, historical material."

Merola recommended the show for children junior high age or older.

For more information, call 431-4CAP.

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Carolyn Norton can be reached at cnorton@thedailystar.com or (607) 441-7218.