Across
from
Progressive
Field
in
downtown
Cleveland,
there's
a
particular
plot
of
land
you
may
have
walked
or
driven
past
before
without
a
second
glance.
If
you
take
the
time,
you
can
step
through
the
stone
arch
entryway
of
Erie
Street
Cemetery,
which
holds
the
untold
stories
of
many
past
Clevelanders.
Luckily,
with
a
project
written
by
BW's
own
English
professor
Les
Hunter,
you
can
hear
some
of
them!
The unique, site-specific, choose-your-own-adventure audio story "Under the Sycamores" uncovers the fascinating lives of Clevelanders buried in the historic Erie Street Cemetery. While still physically present in 2021, your imagination will be transported through time on a historical journey.
Available
on-demand
now
through
September
30,
you're
invited
to
choose
your
own
path
through
Cleveland's
oldest
cemetery.
Along
the
way,
you'll
meet
early
European
settlers,
a
Native
American
chief,
an
early
civil
rights
leader,
a
famous
Beat
poet
and
more.
Depending
on
the
stories
you
choose
to
listen
to,
it
can
take
30
to
90
minutes
to
walk
through.
Presented as a special project for the 2021 BorderLight Festival, it was co-produced with Radio on the Lake Theatre and written by Les Hunter, professor and chair of BW's English and creative writing programs. He describes the unique nature of the project as "heavily researched, but slightly fictionalized … [I]t's not really a play, a screenplay or even a radio play, but it has elements of each of these."
BorderLight Associate Producer and Communications Director Cathleen O'Malley notes, "While theatres have been shuttered during the pandemic, independent artists have continued to innovate, experimenting with form and deploying their craft to make meaning of this challenging time."
While
there
aren't
any
actors
physically
present
at
the
cemetery,
participants
walk
through
this
sacred
area
visiting
specific
places
while
listening
to
several
recorded
stories.
With
easy-to-use
technology,
you
can
use
your
phone
to
access
the
website
and
select
the
recording
you
want
to
hear.
While
headphones
aren't
necessary,
they
can
make
it
easier
to
hear,
especially
with
sounds
from
nearby
E.
9th
Street
and
Progressive
Field.
Along with an interest in Cleveland's history, Hunter was drawn to the project because it was different from anything he had done before. He says, "I love new challenges, and this presented many, particularly regarding the ethics of people's lives in their burial ground - a place that usually has a fair bit of reverence. That reverence challenged me as a writer to find novel and interesting ways to explore potential flaws - especially when so much of the archive available about these people was hagiographic."
Determined to share their stories in a relatable way, Hunter says, "The information that I found on the lives of those interred in Erie Street was full of praise but didn't necessarily make for good storytelling. As audiences, we identify with people who have flaws or weaknesses like we do, which isn't always the most flattering to the subject … [W]e want to hear about people's foibles, misgivings, hurts, desires and things that they did that weren't as nice."
Interestingly, the cemetery has had 20,000 people interred there in its 200-year history. However, thousands of remains have been removed nine different times over the years, particularly as the cemetery has been threatened by development, and parts of the cemetery have been taken apart and used for other purposes.
Hunter says, "When I started, I thought, well, this is a project about death, but almost everything I ended up exploring was about life. I kind of conceived of death as just this binary, you know, the other side, but I think this project has made me realize it's much more complex than that. One of the quotes in the play is that there's so much life in death, but there's so much death in life that they're so interconnected. It's not a turning off the light or turning on the light."
Listen to an interview with Les Hunter and learn more about the project.
Learn more about "Under the Sycamores" and purchase tickets for only $6 from now until September 30.
