Virginia State Historical Outdoor Drama

"The Long Way Home"

Adapted for stage by Earl Hobson Smith
Performed in Radford, Virginia

Adopted in 1994

"The Long Way Home", based on the life of Mary Draper Ingles, adapted for stage by Earl Hobson Smith, performed in Radford.

§ 7.1-40.8. Official outdoor dramas.
"The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama," adapted for the stage by Clara Lou Kelly and performed in the Town of Big Stone Gap, is hereby designated the official outdoor drama of the Commonwealth.

"The Long Way Home" based on the life of Mary Draper Ingles and adapted for the stage by Earl Hobson Smith and performed in the City of Radford is hereby designated the official historical outdoor drama of the Commonwealth.
(1994, cc. 134, 464.) Commonwealth

In July of 1755, Shawnee Indians, allied with the French, raided the early Western Virginia Frontier. The result of one of those raids was Mary Draper Ingles' Journey, The Long way Home. You can experience this historic epic in Earl Hobson Smith's most stirring play, which is now designated as "Virginia's Historical Outdoor Drama of the Commonwealth."

Come see this true heroic adventure depicting Mary Draper Ingles' 850 mile escape through some of the most rugged, and then unexplored terrain of the North American Continent by following the rivers. A trip fraught with danger to give warning of a second Indian attack, her incredible journey, as portrayed in this drama has won the approval of audiences since 1971.

The story of endurance and courage that Mary Draper Ingles told in the days following is astonishing. Her saga is the subject of Alexander Thom's best-selling novel, "Follow the River"; Earl Hobson Smith wrote an outdoor drama, "The Long Way Home," still produced each summer in Radford; ABC made it the basis of a made-for-television movie which aired early in l995.

Come to the beautiful, lush valley of the New River, between the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains, where this brave woman and her husband, William Ingles, lived, help shape an entire nation and told her story that is retold each night in the Ingles Homestead Amphitheater at her homesite and grave.

The Long Way Home
PO Box 711, Radford,
VA 24141-0711
Phone 540-639-0679
Fax 540-731-8306

And while some of the story's details, told and retold over the past 240 years, are understandably hazy, the essence of what Mary Draper Ingles did -- her 42-day, 800-mile escape from her Shawnee captors across a mountainous wilderness -- couldn't be more clear.

JAN. 2, 2002
Bringing back the 'Long Way Home'
By LAURA OSBORNE
ROANOKE.COM COLUMNIST

This past summer, for the second year in a row, Radford's outdoor drama, "The Long Way Home," was cancelled. Problems with directorship and outdated facilities have been cited as causes. A consultant was hired recently to determine the future of what has been designated "Virginia's Historical Outdoor Drama of the Commonwealth."

...

Recommendations to continue the outdoor drama include vastly updating the drama's physical conditions and equipment. They also include rewriting the script, which has been called "amateurish." Radford city officials should heed these recommendations and revive the popular local drama that began in 1971. Telling Mary Draper Ingles' story at this site along the New River is a natural tourist attraction. But first, the grounds and script, both inside and out, need total refurbishing.