When Catherine Bush moved to Abingdon in 2007, she had never heard of the Battle of Kings Mountain, or, for that matter, the Abingdon Muster Grounds.
But, while on a stroll through town one day, she came across the historical open fields where local county militias gathered to practice military drills, hold inspections and conduct social gatherings during the 18th and 19th centuries.
She was fascinated to stand in the very places where militiamen assembled before marching south to fight in the battle of Kings Mountain, which is marked as a crucial turning point in the American Revolutionary War.
The property is the official starting point of the Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail, which highlights the route of an American Patriot army under the command of Colonel William Campbell that defeated an American Loyalist force at the battle of Kings Mountain in the fall of 1780.
“It’s a beautiful, well-kept museum and historic site,” Bush said. “And, a great lesson for me to learn.”
What began as a simple idea blossomed into a play for the stage.
Bush, who is resident playwright for Barter Theatre, has spent the past year creating the script for “Kings Mountain,” a production that tells the historical events surrounding the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina and the people who helped to shape its outcome.
Commissioned as a Signature Event by the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission (VA250), the Barter Theatre is presenting one of its first plays about the Revolutionary War, focusing on the 1780 Battle of Kings Mountain, where Patriot forces defeated Loyalist militia for independence.
The play will be shown through Oct. 31 in Barter Theatre’s Smith Theatre in Abingdon.
“We knew the VA250 was coming up, as well as the country’s 250 celebration. And we knew Abingdon’s role in the battle. It was a perfect time to present this,” said Bush.
After being commissioned by Barter Theatre to write a play about Kings Mountain, Bush began researching the history, determined to learn all she could about the battle.
During her research, Bush visited Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park in Elizabethton, Tennessee, where several major historical events occurred during the American Colonial and Revolutionary War eras.
“I wanted to tell the story the best of my ability. You can’t tell everything, but I hope we touched on enough to make people consider learning more.”
According to Katy Brown, producing artistic director for Barter Theatre, Bush does a remarkable job bringing history and compelling stories to life on the stage.
“We can learn about a story and Cathy dives in and comes up with something theatrical and interesting. Our audiences really respond to her work,” said Brown.
“Being able to tell the stories of this region is one of the things we do that we’re most proud of. Getting to tell this story near the land where it actually happened has been really an incredible experience,” she said.
“One of our jobs at the theatre is to bring the best of the world to Appalachia and the best of Appalachia to the world. And, developing new works about this region is a cornerstone of that.”
‘Kings Mountain’
Bush said her job is to take a story and use all of the techniques she knows to evoke inspiration.
“We’re recreating a march from Sycamore Shoals to Kings Mountain over eleven days in our tiny little theater and we do it in a matter of minutes. My friend John Hardy, who directed this piece, has often said that only in theater can you stand on a box and call it a mountain and have everyone believe you,” she said with humor.
“My favorite form of theatrical convention is not to use a huge set. I like to let the audience imagine it and allow the lighting, sound and music to underscore a moment.”
She has the privilege of writing the script, but the real imagination comes from the directors, according to her.
During what was called a “stumble” in rehearsals, Bush and the directors spent hours tweaking the “Kings Mountain” play, finding out what worked and what didn’t.
“The real show in a play is backstage,” said Bush, who called the wardrobe crew the “real heroes of Kings Mountain.”
“Barter Theatre actors are seasoned pros,” she said. “They can take changes and incorporate them immediately.”
The production is set during the years leading up to and including the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. It features 22 characters, portrayed by only seven Barter actors, of which three are women and four are men.
Often times, Bush had to incorporate additional lines in the scripts to allow extra time for actors to change costumes for their next roles.
The play is set in various locations in Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
All of the characters in the play represent a point of view.
“I wanted to include the points of views of women, enslaved people, Cherokee Indians, Loyalists, Patriots and even the English themselves,” Bush explained.
The playwright included perspectives from John Broady, the enslaved man and Patriot who accompanied William Campbell at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
The audience learns about American pioneer Becky Boone, who was the wife of famous frontiersman Daniel Boone. The wife raised 10 biological children and several orphaned relatives along with managing their homestead while her husband was away. She handled farming, livestock, tanning hides, and even was a midwife and healer in her community.
Bush also portrays the point of view of King George III, monarch of Great Britain and Ireland during the American Revolution. He strongly believed the Colonies must submit to Parliament’s authority.
“The trick to telling a story of a historical event is not just giving an audience the facts and turning it into a book report,” she said.
Her favorite scene in the play highlights the human connections and relationships between the characters.
Her favorite scene in the play is between Colonel John Sevier, a major character in the story, and Samuel Chambers, a 16-year-old boy. During a conversation about their fathers, Sevier talks about how the North Star can guide you if you’re ever lost.
“It’s a simple scene, beautifully staged with two people,” said the playwright.
Bush introduces the audience to historical events leading up to the war, such as the death of James Boone, the son of frontiersman Daniel Boone, who was killed by a raiding party of Shawnee warriors.
The audience learns that American Colonists felt unsettled before the war because they had no voice in their government and strongly opposed British taxes and laws passed without their consent.
General William Campbell takes the stage when he and fellow landowners signed the Fincastle Resolution in 1775, outlining bold statements of political resistance against British rule.
“We’re getting a lot of history through the eyes of William Campbell,” said Bush.
According to her, Campbell was considered the hero of Kings Mountain, but he was also called the bloody tyrant of Washington County.
“He strung up his neighbors because they didn’t believe the same way,” she said. “Campbell also felt the Loyalists were inciting the Cherokee against the Patriots. People we call heroes don’t always act heroically. That’s one thing I learned from Kings Mountain.”
At the end of Act 1, the audience learns that Major Patrick Ferguson threatened to march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders and lay waste to the Watauga River Valley with fire and sword if the frontier settlers did not stop opposing the crown.
As a result, Campbell mustered his men in Abingdon and marched to Sycamore Shoals to join with Colonel Isaac Shelby and Colonel Sevier, two soldiers who play large roles in Act 2.
As history tells it, the Overmountain Men completely surrounded and defeated the Loyalist military, and the Patriots declared victory.
Bush said it was important for her to remain within the historical parameters of the story.
“I created an exciting dramatic piece that if nothing else will inspire people to study it themselves.”
The history of the war isn’t a pageant, she said, but rather the story of what truly happened on the battlefields.
“Part of celebrating 250 years as a country is having the wisdom and perspective to look back at that time — a time when we were building a nation on the backs of enslaved people, on land stolen from other people, and breaking the rules of the government under which the country was founded,” Bush said.
She is convinced that part of becoming a better country the next 250 years requires understanding where we came from, ensuring we are a country for liberty and justice for all.
“I love my country and I want to acknowledge its truthful past and embrace its history and make sure we go forth being a better version of ourselves,” Bush said.
Early days
At 64, Bush joked that she feels like she has already lived five different lifetimes.
She earlier worked for a printing company and even drew and designed vacuum cleaner parts for Whirlpool.
So, the theatre hasn’t always been the direction Bush envisioned for herself.
Bush remembers seeing the play “Guys and Dolls” when she was in seventh grade. Her brother, a senior at the school, was in the play.
“I remember being transported by it,” said Bush, who, as a young student, typically found joy rather in participating in sports — soccer, basketball and running cross country.
After receiving a degree in industrial technology in college, she once again found herself drawn to the theatre.
Her fascination with the stage was rekindled when she traveled to London and saw “Phantom of the Opera” with a friend.
“I fell in love. To me, this was magic,” said Bush.
At 30, Bush left her job with Whirlpool in Kentucky and set out for New York to attend drama school — a bold step toward pursuing her passion for theater later in life.
“But I found out I wasn’t good at acting,” said Bush with a laugh. Instead, she began writing her own plays, drawing inspiration from what she liked — and disliked — about the productions she saw on stage.
In 2003, her play “The Other Side of the Mountain” came to Barter Theatre as part of the theater’s Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights.
That kicked off her relationship with Barter Theatre. In 2008, Rick Rose, who was the artistic producing director at the time, hired Bush to be the playwright-in-residence, a job that gives her creative freedom.
Bush confessed she spends more time with imaginary friends than she does with real ones. She described herself as an “extrovert in an introvert’s body.”
“My head is full of friends who are imaginary,” Bush said. “With these historical friends, I have to imagine how it would have been then.”
Bush has written as many as 60 plays during her career, with as many as 50 making it to the stage. She always has another play ready to surface.
“The Barter has allowed me to serve an audience I love,” she said.
“I’m living the playwright’s dream.”
For more about the Overmountain Men and the Battle of Kings Mountain
See our previous stories about the Overmountain Men and their march to the Battle of Kings Mountain that have been part of our Cardinal 250 series about Virginia’s role in American independence:
“Soldiers from Washington County marched farther than anyone else to inflict decisive defeat on the British,” by Carolyn Wilson
“William Campbell led the Overmountain Men to a key victory, then died young,” by Carolyn Wilson
Podcast about William Campbell and the Overmountain Men, by Dutchie Jessee with Tom Vaughan of the Overmountain Men Association.
Our Cardinal 250 series publishes monthly. Sign up for the newsletter here:
Thanks to a grant from Acton Family Giving and the Hearthland Foundation, Cardinal has produced a visual history of the American Revolution aimed at young readers. It’s available free on our website. William Campbell of the Overmountain Men is one of the figures depicted on the cover of “Virginians Like Us.” The chapter drawn by Julia Thomas tells their story in graphic form:
