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Play planned at Liberty auditorium

Courtesy Photo   Tina LaFoy as Anne Jolly, Robbie Morris as Manse Jolly and Kay Rentz as Mary Jolly in “The Reconstruction of Manse Jolly,” scheduled to be performed next weekend at the Liberty Civic Auditorium.

LIBERTY — There will be two performances of the original play “The Reconstruction of Manse Jolly” on Saturday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 13, at 2:30 p.m. at the newly renovated Liberty Civic Auditorium on S.C. Highway 93 in Liberty.

The story is set in the Old Anderson District from 1865 through 1867, when the area was under military rule and occupied by federal troops, the 25th Massachusetts Infantry. The district included Anderson, Pickens and Oconee counties.

Courtesy photo Debbie Teeple, Debbie Hendricks and Cydi Banks as Singing Belles.

Courtesy photo
Debbie Teeple, Debbie Hendricks and Cydi Banks as Singing Belles.

Manse Jolly came home following the South’s surrender having left five dead brothers on the battlefields from North Carolina to Pennsylvania and finding his widowed mother and sister, Mary, subsisting in a wartorn land during the dark days of Reconstruction.

Unwilling to accept defeat, he set about reclaiming stolen property, killing Union troopers and raiding the garrison in downtown Anderson.

The two-act play written by Olivia Fowler includes original music and lyrics and some old favorites. Four gifted area musicians, Robert Wood, O.D. Hendricks, Matthew Oglesby and Carla Padget, also did all musical arrangements.

Robbie Morris appears as Manse Jolly, Tina LaFoy as his mother, Anne, Kay Rentz as his sister, Mary, and Rob Shelton plays the part of John Jolly’s ghost.

Courtesy photo Quint Brown plays Lt. Chase, while Teresa Owens plays Miss Mary Margaret in “The Reconstruction of Manse Jolly.”

Courtesy photo
Quint Brown plays Lt. Chase, while Teresa Owens plays Miss Mary Margaret in “The Reconstruction of Manse Jolly.”

Quint Brown plays Lt. Chase, Teresa Owens is Miss Mary Margaret and is one of the Singing Belles. Olivia Fowler is storekeeper Sarah Earle. Singing Belle members Debbie Hendricks, Debbie Teeple and Cyndi Banks are both singers and townspeople. Some cast members appear in dual roles.

Tickets are $10 at the door the day of each performance. All proceeds benefit The Birchwood Center for Arts and Folk Life, a community based nonprofit organization. For additional information, call (864) 414-2465.