Playwright shares insight into 'The First and Last Town in Tennessee'

The McKinney Center will debut an original play this month that traces 250 years of Jonesborough history through the voices of the people who lived it, marking America's Semiquincentennial with a local lens. "The First and Last Town in Tennessee" opens in late February and spans from 1779, the year Jonesborough was founded, to the present day. Written by McKinney Center Program Manager Anne G'Fellers Mason, the production blends major historical moments with everyday community stories drawn from the town's past and present. "We've known for a few years that this anniversary was coming down the pipeline for the country, and we started thinking of ways that Jonesborough could be involved and honor it," Mason said. "There's lots of history here, dating all the way back to the Revolutionary War." Mason said the play grew naturally out of the McKinney Center's longstanding mission to preserve and share local stories. "The McKinney Center has a long-standing tradition of sharing community stories in play format," she said. "We've got an awesome archival collection of oral histories that's older than 10 years now from people in the community. We really wanted to share those stories in connection with the history of the town." While the production touches on well-known historical figures, Mason said narrowing the scope was one of the biggest challenges. "The play can't be 'forever' long, but we definitely included some of the big, well-known movers and shakers in this area, like Andrew Jackson, Alfred Greenlee and Sandy Johnson, who could speak to the civil rights movement in town," she said. The play also includes modern-day community leaders audiences may recognize. "We also have stories about people that we still see about town every day, like Steve Cook, who started Music on the Square, which adds to the quality of life in town," Mason said. Mason said her goal was to represent a wide range of eras while keeping the production grounded in why people continue to call Jonesborough home. "I just wanted to make sure I had a good mix of different historical moments like the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement and then other moments that talk about the quality of life here and why people love living in Jonesborough," she said. Rather than following a strictly chronological structure, the play moves back and forth across centuries to show how past events continue to shape the present. "It's not a linear timeline in the play," Mason said. "Some things are, but then we go back and forth in time and show how things from one decade or era influenced things 100 years later and how some things have come full circle." Balancing national history with local experience, she said, helps audiences see themselves in the larger American story. "I think that's how we connect to it, because sometimes it feels like history happened elsewhere," Mason said. "We forget about all the stuff that happened locally and want to show how Tennessee and Jonesborough contributed to the national story." The title of the play reflects Jonesborough's unique identity as both the oldest town in Tennessee and, historically, the western edge of the state. "That came from a quote that was talking about Jonesborough from like 1802," Mason said. "It calls it the 'last town in Tennessee' because at that moment the western frontier was expanding. For a moment, Jonesborough was at the edge of that frontier." As the production helps launch Jonesborough's yearlong 250th anniversary celebration, Mason said she hopes audiences leave with a deeper appreciation for the town's past and a sense of responsibility for its future. "There's a lot of heartwarming moments and then moments that make you think," she said. "We want people to ask themselves 'Okay, what do we want the next 250 years to look like?' Because part of that's going to be up to us. I just really hope people come and have a good time, and walk away with an appreciation for where we live." Mason said that the play is designed to be accessible to all ages. "The play is very family friendly, and it's appropriate for all ages," she said. "It's not a musical, but we do have music in the play. We even have a traditional dance number. We have a 29 person cast with ages ranging from 8 year olds to people in their 80s, so it's definitely a community experience." "The First and Last Town in Tennessee" will run Feb. 27 and 28 and March 1, with additional performances March 6 through 8 at the McKinney Center in Jonesborough. Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with 2:30 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $18 for seniors 55 and older and groups of eight or more. The March 1 matinee is a pay-what-you-can performance with a suggested $2.50 donation. Seats must be reserved for all performances. Tickets are available at jonesborough.com/tickets or by calling the Jonesborough Visitors Center at (423) 753-1010. The project is supported in part by the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial.