SU theater explores folktales linked to Eastern Shore

On Sunday afternoon,  it was lights, camera, action at the Black Box Theatre in Salisbury University's campus. Students performed an original play titled Tales of the Eastern Shore.

"There is a lot of legends attached to this area that I found very interesting," says Tom Anderson, the Director of the Children's Theatre Workshop at SU.

Anderson tells us his past classes have performed American folktales,  but this time around he wanted to do something different.

"We wanted to find something a bit more regional, and we found in the early research that there is really creation myths; how the peninsula was formed, and first encounters and things like that," says Anderson.

Anderson tell us he assigned his class to expand on his initial research, as well as to write, build, and perform an original play that looked into the history and Native American stories of the Eastern Shore.

Shane Love, an Eastern Shore native and a Junior in Anderson's class tells us working on this original play has expanded his knowledge of where he grew up. Love says this has helped him understand the significance of one little creature to this area.

"We found the story of the traveler and the muskrat. And then we found the creation myth of the muskrat, so we found two muskrat stories," says Love.

Shane tell us according to an Eastern Shore legend, the muskrat played an important role in how the continents and Delmarva peninsula was formed. Although that legend remains a mystery,  Anderson says it adds to the character to the Tales of the Eastern Shore.

For more information about upcoming plays at Salisbury University click here.