For Rebecca Boone, 'Love makes a home'

Daniel Boone has achieved legendary status in America’s mythos. Pathfinder, soldier, horse trader, land speculator, constantly on the move to the next frontier, he’s been the subject of often fanciful books, movies and television shows.

Local playwright Kiesa Kay’s one-woman drama “Love Makes a Home: The Life of Rebecca Boone” tells the compelling but lesser known tale of his remarkable wife, portrayed by actress Barb McEwan. The production, directed by Kay Wise-Denty of Black Mountain, is accompanied by period-appropriate music from renowned old-time fiddler Bruce Green. The play’s premiere at White Horse Black Mountain last June sold out. It returns there Friday-Saturday, Oct. 27-28. 

“Rebecca Boone’s grit and determination too often gets overshadowed by her larger-than-life husband,” Kiesa Kay said. “She moved more than 20 times, gave birth to 10 children and raised six others.” Rebecca and Daniel met at a dance in Kentucky, so it’s fitting that the incidental music is provided by Green, a member of the Old Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame who specializes in Kentucky fiddle tunes.

Said Kiesa Kay: “I envisioned the play as a kind of duet between the actor and the fiddler.”

McEwan gives voice to 72-year-old Rebecca Boone’s thoughts as she shares the accumulated wisdom of her time on the American frontier. As she chops wood, cooks stew, mends clothing and weaves linen, she reminisces about the homes she made but seldom got to keep for long. McEwan acquired deep understanding of life’s beginnings and endings while working as a pediatric nurse and in hospice care, and her deep connection to nature gives her rare insight into the spirit of the indomitable Rebecca.

Homes left behind

What: "Love Makes a Home"

When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27-28

Where: White Horse Black Mountain

Cost: $12 advance/$15 door