Premiere of ‘Brainerd Mission Story’ is Friday

An original drama depicting the people and events that would shape Chattanooga will debut Friday, Nov. 10, at Brainerd High School, with more presentations Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11-12.

Brainerd Mission Project and Ripple Productions are co-hosting the premiere of “The Trail was a Circle: The Brainerd Mission Story.” The production celebrates the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Brainerd Mission, using music, film and drama to allow audiences to go back in time to early 1800s

Chattanooga.

It tells the story of a small group of teachers at a Cherokee mission school who stood for human dignity and civil rights against the pending Indian Removal Act.

Based on historical research, the journals of missionaries and support from local historians Bruce Sloan, David Clapp and Cherokee leaders, including Tammera Hicks and Elkspirit Dancer, the play will introduce Chattanoogans to the characters who shaped the community.

From Chief John Ross, Sequoyah and Nancy Ward to Andrew Jackson, Davy Crockett and Samuel Worchester, this play will engage and educate, inspiring audiences to join in the bicentennial celebration of the Brainerd Mission and its role in Chattanooga history.

Students from Barger Academy and Brainerd High School — youth living centuries later in the neighborhood of the former mission — are part of the musical accompaniment of the play . Its original score is by Dr. Jim Burns, retired music professor and former director of the Lee Singers at Lee University in Cleveland. The score is an eclectic mix of music representing the three cultures reflected in the mission’s life.

The play was written by Daisy Pratt and is produced in partnership with the Cherokee Area Council of Boy Scouts of America, WTCI-PBS, Native American Services of Tennessee, Ridgeview Baptist Church, DAR Regent’s Council of Chattanooga, Nancy Ward chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution John Sevier Society, Audubon Acres, JD Burns Co., Baron Studios, Live to Inspire Productions and the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.

For more information or tickets: www.brainerdmissionproject.com.