On May 8th, 2007, NMG supported The Coalfield Delegation to the U.N.’s fight to stop the tragic coal mining practice called Mountain Top Removal and demand the U.S. invest in renewable sources of energy. To date MTR has eliminated over 450 Mountains of Central Appalachia and 1200 miles of streams. Performances took place at Dag Hammarskjold Park adjacent to the U.N. & St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in West Harlem.

Missing Mountains, conceived & created by NMG
Featuring: Jen Bowen, Raymond Hill, Erin Layton, Sarah Moon, Ingrid Nordstrom, Jeremy Pickard, & Stephanie Pistello.

NMG conceived and created Missing Mountains, four original short pieces, by fusing words and information from Missing Mountains, We went to the mountaintop but it wasn’t there, published by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth; Candles to the Sun by Tennessee Williams; & Buffalo Creek Revisited, Directed by Mimi Pickering.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL PLEASE VISIT www.stopMTR.org

Williams’ first full-length play, Candles to the Sun, was originally a One-Act play titled The Lamp written by and handed off to Williams by a family friend, Mr. Joseph Phelan Hollifield. The play premiered in St. Louis, Mo. in the spring of 1937, produced by a small but ambitious theater company called The Mummers under the direction of Willard H. Holland. Despite the plays success at the time, it was lost and all but forgotten until it’s first publication in 2004. It received it’s 21st Century premiere at the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana in 2005. NMG was proud to present the third ever production and Kentucky premiere of Candles to the Sun at Actors Theatre of Louisville, August 17-19, 2006.

A play in 10 scenes, Candles to the Sun is a mining disaster play, and an accurate examination of people searching for hope and peace amidst extreme conditions and crisis. Spanning nearly 15 years in a depression-era coal mining camp, the play follows three generations of the Pilcher family as they face mining fatalities, starvation, and the looming threat of a violent but necessary strike for better wages and safety conditions.

The production was rehearsed and conceived in NYC, and included intense research, fieldwork, and rehearsals throughout the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, Virginia, and Kentucky (including an open rehearsal at Waysmeet in Berea, KY). This process allowed the company to find a palpable connection to the material and world of the play and it’s characters.

Inspired by The Lamp, a One-Act play by Joseph Phelan Hollifield
Written by Thomas Lanier Williams
@ Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Victor Jory Theatre, August 17-19, 2006

Cast:
Sarah Abrams, Peter Albrink, Jennifer Bowen, Olga-Maria Cruz, Susan Ferrara, Cort Garretson, Raymond Hill, Jim Kane, Erin Layton, Sarah Moon, Max Rosenak, Jonathan Rossetti, Samer Yahyawi.

Production Team:
Produced by: Stephanie Pistello & Noah Goldsmith
Directed by: Stephanie Pistello
Assistant Direction/Dramaturgy/Stage Management by: Ingrid Nordstrom
Costumes by: Evan Prizant
Light Design by: Paul Werner
Graphic Design by: Bettina Utz