“I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this fiery abolitionist and brilliant poet through the development of this play,” says Priscilla Kane Hellweg, artistic director of the Holyoke-based Enchanted Circle Theater, whose site-specific, living-history production, “A Fiery and Still Voice: William Cullen Bryant at Home,” opens Saturday at the William Cullen Bryant Homestead in Cummington.
Set in 1866, one year after Bryant purchased and returned to his childhood home, the play offers an intimate portrait of the man behind the poet, delving into the multidimensional personality of a key figure in the intense political and literary discourse of the time.
The script was researched, developed and written by Hellweg, Rachel Kuhn and Steve Angel, who utilized Bryant’s correspondence and consulted various books on Bryant’s political, literary and artistic pursuits.
“Bryant’s progressive commentary on America’s social injustices and his observations of the natural beauty of our world are as necessary today as they were back in 1866,” Hellweg says.
There will be three performances on Saturday: 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. The show is appropriate for audiences ages 10 to adult and takes place rain or shine. Attendees are advised to wear comfortable walking shoes since the audience travels through several rooms in the house as well as outdoors (umbrellas will be provided). Nineteen additional shows are scheduled throughout the summer and early fall. Tickets cost $15 and are available at thetrustees.org/things-to-do/pioneer-valley.