North Carolina Newspapers

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W. Shawn Smith,
Director
C. David Raper,
Technical Director
submitted by
Shawn Smith
“Strike at the Wind!,” the
professional, outdoor drama
about the Lumbee Indians
folk hero Henry Berry Lowry,
has just completed its eighth
season at The Lakeside
Theater in Pembroke, N.C.
Their summer’s production
was directed by Shawn
Smith, Associate Professor of
Theater at Elizabeth City
State University, and feature
two ECSU theater students,
Kenneth L. Lanier and David
Raper, in major positions
with the company. All three
members of the Viking family
were instrumental in making
the 1983 production of the
drama an outstanding suc
cess.
One newspaper critic said
of the play, “I’ve seen it
every year since it first
opened, and this is the best
one yet.” It is a spectacular,
newly polished production.”
As director, Smith was givem
much credit for the overall
success of “Strike at the
Wind.” According to the
Robesonian reporter, Smith’s
“... innovations in the
production brought forth a
very positive response from
the audience.”
Another theater critic said
that the drama was “
remarkably polished, with all
the elements needed to make
a successful show good
acting, good directing, good
lighting.”
Kenny Lamer served as
assistant stage manager for
“Strike at the Wind!” and
also performed the role of
George Applewhite, a
member of the Lowrie gang
who fought for human rights
during the post Civil War
reconstruction period in
Robeson County. “ I not only
learned a lot about
professional Theater during
the summer,” says Kenny, I
also learned a great deal
about the Lumbee Indians.
They are great people to work
with.”
Kenny was production
stage manager last year for
the ECSU University
Players’“Bus Stop” and “The
Hot L Baltimore,” in which
he also acted a majorrole. A
junior from Elizabethtown,
N.C., Kenny has also directed
Ed Bullin’s “The Corner” and
Langston Hughes’ “Soul Gone
Home” for the University
Players.
David Raper designed the
lighting for “Strike at the
Wind.” David has also
worked with “ The Lost
Colony,” as an actor and
stuntman. His many talemts
have carried him to Broad
way where he served as a
Costume Designer of the
production of “ The Father
and the Wedding” In his
current position as Technical
Director of the Elizabeth City
State University theater
program David designed sets
and lights for the “The Hot L
Baltimore” and “Bus
Stop,”(in which he also acted
the role of Will Masters). He
recently directed Tennessee
William’s “ Hello from
Bertha.” David has been a
professional craftman and
sculptor for' twenty years.
This is his first year with
“Strike at the Wind,”
The drama witten by
Rudolph Umberger, a
professor of Theater at North
Carolina Central University,
is one of the major outdoor
dramas in the nation and has
been seen by more than half a
million Theater goers.
Kenny Lanier,
Assistant Stage
Manager and
character
“Applewhite’
Kenny Lanier as “ Applewhite
in a scene from the musical