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PCMATS
This production is produced by the Plain City Music, Arts & Theatre Society, the 501(c)(3) non-profit arts council for our village.
Plain City Music, Arts & Theatre Society
Board of Directors
President
Anne Gorman
Vice-President of Music
Dennis Graber
Vice-President of Art
Babs Graber
Vice-President of Theatre
Daniel Rodriguez Hijo
Treasurer
Lucas Gutierrez
Publicity Committee
Heather Hay
Membership
Ashley Hay Skinner
Member At Large
Debbie Moore
Corporate Sponsors
Producer's Circle
Hope Roofing & Restoration, LLC
Director's Circle
Main Street Treasures
Cooke-Converse Circle
Lil e's Ice Cream Truck
Mid-City Electric Company
Individual Sponsors
Clock Tower Society
Deerwester Family
Dew Family
Venci Family
Graber Family
Marcus Gorman
Darby Society
Corey Michael Smith
Help create art in Plain City and become a sponsor today!
Cast
Creative Team
Daniel Rodriguez Hijo
Ally Yeom
Ethan Cain
Vanora Vowell
Meet the Company
Verne Hendrick
Verne has acted at the Wisdom Bridge Theater, Chicago, the Theater at Monmouth, Maine, Taper 2, in L.A., and the Theatre de la Porte St. Martin, Palais des Congres, in Paris, where he also played for loose change on the street and in the Metro. He performed solo choreography of Etienne Decroux as well as original works with Corporeal Mime Theater. He has played roles at Actors Theater, Columbus Civic Theater, Available Light, Franklinton Playhouse, and most recently for Aetherial Jest.
Pamela Rodriguez
Daniel Rodriguez Hijo
Danny is the Vice President of Theatre for PCMATS. A producer, director, playwright and theatre educator, he is ever-driven by what can be. Danny discovered a love for the arts at a young age inspired by its ability to connect others and change lives. He is the Theater Specialist for the award-winning Abbey Theater of Dublin.
Ally Yeom
Ethan Cain
Vanora Vowell
Multimedia
HISTORICAL NOTE
The preservation of Jonathan Alder's story is a story in itself.
Jonathan dictated his life story to his son, Henry Clay Alder, who transcribed it into a roughly 100-page narrative. This document was never published in full, instead being quoted from, paraphrased, and abridged for publication in Historical Collections of Ohio by Henry Howe in 1847. Shortly thereafter, the original document was lost and Jonathan passed away.
After Jonathan's death in 1849, Henry Clay rewrote the narrative from memory. However, it too was lost in the 1850s.
In 1882, Dr. George W. Hill, a hobby historian, published a serialized version of the narrative for the Ashland, Ohio, Press titled The Shawnees and the Capture of Jonathan Alder from the Alder Manuscript. This version is seemingly heavily abridged as it is primarily told in the third person while diverting the story to dive into anthropological details. Additionally, many direct quotes present in this version either do not appear or differ from those found in the Howe publication.
One of Jonathan's great-grandsons, Orley E. Brown, republished the Hill version without the historical diversions in 1965 with the title The Captivity of Jonathan Alder and His Life with the Indians. While Jonathan's story was refocused in this cut, many of the supposed quotes differ linguistically with what we know came directly from him in the Howe publication and seem more sentimentalized. This version is available for purchase at the Madison County Historical Society under both the aforementioned name and a seperate printing titled The Journal of Jonathan Alder.
Historian W.H. Beers published his own version of Jonathan's story in his 1883 collection The History of Madison County. This version also shows signs of editorializing, but combines Henry Clay's manuscript with the Howe publication while also including information from Jonathan's descendants and acquaintances. This collection is available at the Plain City Public Library and Madison County Historical Society.
It wouldn't be until 1935 that the Henry Clay copy of the narrative was rediscovered and a type copy was made. Created by Doyle Davison, a descendant of Jonathan Alder, the copy was given to the Ohio Historical Society. Meanwhile, the original handwritten version was lost yet again. The typed copy remains available at the Ohio History Connection titled A History of Jonathan Alder: His Captivity and Life with the Indians.
Jonathan Alder's story has been preserved through a number of chance publications. But, when you consider each version, despite their own faults in authorship or authority, a full-fledged person emerges, not a folk hero. This is the character you see on stage in our production, a deeply nuanced man who lived through extraordinary circumstances.
OHIO HISTORY IS AMERICAN INDIAN HISTORY
What is a "Mingo" tribe?
The Mingo tribes in the late 18th to early 19th century were groups of American Indians that were made up of mixed origin as a result of colonial displacement on the East Coast. The Mingo tribe which Jonathan Alder was adopted into was described as having a Seneca chief (Succohanes), a Shawnee chieftess (Whinecheoh), and having several members who came from the Lenape people (known colonially as Delaware).
He describes learning each of the three languages in the tribe, and speaking to each in their respective tongue. But, none in his own. In fact, he wouldn't relearn English until his departure from the tribes. By being at least quadrilingual, Jonathan was able to forge close bonds amongst the surrounding tribes which aided him as an ally who directly interacted with important figures such as Blue Jacket, Tecumseh, & Leatherlips.
We would like to take this time to recognize our shared history with the American Indians, uglied by the hatred and malice of the belief in manifest destiny, while also highlighting the American Indian Nations as they exist today.
If you would like to learn more about some of the American Indian Nations mentioned in this show, please do so directly from them as preserved by their descendants.
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