Northern Stage Presents JUNCTION An Audio Walking Experience Of White River Junction

Northern Stage's season continues this fall with a site-specific, dramatic walking experience of White River Junction, VT. Junction, running now through October 24, consists of three original audio stories from three era-defining years: from the filming of director D.W Griffith's iconic Way Down East in 1920 to the cultural and economic dislocations of the 1970s to the unexpected challenges of 2020, the strangest year of all.

Using only a cellphone and a pair of headphones, individual audience members will be guided from one location to the next as audio scenes play out before them. From the city's storied train station to the stunning convergence of the Connecticut and White Rivers at Lyman Point Park, Junction reframes the places we think we know.

Produced and created by KlaxWorks' Ben Beckley and Asa Wember, Junction is written by playwrights Beckley, Nkenna Akunna, and Isaac Lorton. The three tracks in the Junction Walking Tour include:

1920:

In 1920, actress Dorothy Gish takes the train to White River Junction to meet her movie star sister, Lillian Gish, on the set of her next project, D.W. Griffith's silent film Way Down East, shooting on the frozen Connecticut River. Will Dorothy ever be able to step out from behind her sister's shadow?

1970:

In 1970, Cecelia Okocha, a biracial teenager, takes a train from Harlem to White River Junction to stay with her godmother - but there is nobody waiting for her at the train station...and not a lot of folks in town who look like her. Can this be home?

2020:

In 2020, Ira, a local freelance writer, walks around White River Junction during the pandemic looking for his next story. From birdwatching and wild bobcats, to protests and unexpected tragedies, the stories Ira encounters are anything but average.

"The pandemic taught us that theater does not have to take place in a building. This walking 'play' takes us on a dramatic journey of White River while encouraging us to see our village with new eyes. It is a beautiful experience," says Producing Artistic Director Carol Dunne.

Single tickets for Junction cost $19, and $15 for Northern Stage Subscribers and White River Junction Residents. Junction can be accessed anytime between the time of purchase October 24 and is meant to be experienced during daylight hours and in good weather. Patrons will need a cell phone with a data plan and a charged battery, a pair of compatible headphones, and comfortable walking shoes (recommended). Technical assistance is available at the Northern Stage Box Office at 74 Gates Street, between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. A limited number of devices for loan are available at the Box Office if patrons do not have data plans that support streaming technology. Loaner devices may be checked out on a first come, first served basis. For more information, contact the Box Office at 802-296-7000, or by email at boxoffice@northernstage.org.

Northern Stage's 2021/22 Season will continue inside this winter with the quietly powerful love story Heisenberg, February 16 through March 6, 2022, and concludes with the hilariously entertaining musical Monty Python's Spamalot, April 13 through May 15, 2022. And this holiday season, Northern Stage's Education Department will present the fantastical journey The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, December 8, 2021 through January 2, 2022. All remaining productions will be in the Byrne Theater in Northern Stage's Barrette Center for the Arts, 74 Gates Street, White River Junction, Vermont. Northern Stage's 2021-22 Season is underwritten by Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, who has been a season underwriter for the past two years.

For more information on the rest of Northern Stage's 2021/22 Season, visit NorthernStage.org.

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