Lost and Found in Roanoke

We went to see an outdoor play called The Lost Colony last night -- which was, as you might imagine, about the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke. (For those of you who are rusty on your history lessons, click here to learn more.) Fantastic in every way.

What was especially excellent was how much the dramatization brought to life the brief history of America's first colony. So much so that Emily began to cry after the Indian chief was killed, not because it was so realistic (which it and the other battle scenes were) but because she remembered the true story from us visiting the actual site of the Lost Colony last year. She kept saying through her tears, "This really happened. This really happened."

Lest the audience be sunk into complete depression through the story of the doomed group of settlers, the playwrights inserted some comic relief by way of a slightly drunken old Londoner who swore off his drink to join the last group going to the New World. Perfect. He was silly and kept the audience laughing despite the sadness.

And we had some comic relief of our own when Emily declared upon seeing Queen Elizabeth I coming out, "She looks just like in Star Wars." We're guessing she was comparing her to Queen Amidala.

I guess she found a way to link past and present. Not a bad comparison.